ASUU, FG Face-Off Continues: We Won’t Pay For Service Not Rendered, Says Minister
DESPITE protests by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) against alleged partial payment of their October salary, the federal government remained adamant, insisting that it would not pay for service not rendered.
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who disclosed government’s position on the matter after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said: “The strike has been called off and the government has paid them what is due to them. I think that’s the position of the government; that it is not going to pay anyone for work not done and they only did, I think, the number of days that they were paid.
“How can anybody make a university lecturer a casual… Do you know the meaning of casual worker? If you know the meaning of the casual worker, it is impossible to make a university lecturer a casual worker.”
On the lecturer’s decision to embark on a work-free-day to protest government’s decision to pay them pro-rata, which they see as attempt to turn university lecturers to ‘casual workers,’ the minister stressed that government cannot pay the teachers for work not done, adding: “So, let’s wait till the work-free-day comes, then I’ll find out the details and we’ll discuss, you can ask me then, but at the moment, I’m telling you honestly, I do not know that there is a problem.”
