FG to release ASUU’s N30bn earned allowances, plough N20bn into education sector

In a bid to bring an end to the seven-month-long strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Federal Government has agreed to release N30 billion earned academic allowances to the university lecturers.

The Federal Government said that the allowances would be paid in trances from May 2021 to February 2022.

Also, it committed to spending N20 billion on the revitalisation of the education sector.

These were part of agreements reached between a Federal Government delegation led by Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and Minister of State, Festus Keyamo SAN and ASUU delegation led by its President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi on Thursday.

Recall that Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige blamed the ongoing EndSARS protests across the nation on ASUU’s prolonged strike, saying students that should be in school were being recruited for the protests.

He said this before the negotiation team went into a closed-door session on Thursday.

The minister expressed hope that ASUU would do the needful and suspend the strike as government had shown seriousness in acceding to its demands.

The academic union has been on strike since February 2020 to press home their rejection of the Federal Government’s Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in the university system.

The union has proposed University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as alternative.

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