Professors and SANs to represent ASUU in industrial court

On Monday, the Federal Government’s case against the Academic Staff Union of Universities will be heard at the National Industrial Court, and members of the union, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria and Professors of Law, will defend the union (today).

According to the MINIECHAT, the Federal Government brought the union before the NIC due to an ongoing strike that began on February 14, 2022.

The union is calling for a number of things, including the release of the revitalization fund for universities, the release of earned allowances for university lecturers, the implementation of the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers, the release of the white paper report of the visitation panels to universities, and the renegotiation of the ASUU-FGN 2009 agreement.

After unsuccessful attempts to resolve the strike, the administration made the decision to bring the union before the industrial court.

A member of the organization’s National Executive Council told The MINIECHAT in an interview on Sunday that the union will utilize its top attorneys. He asked to remain anonymous since he was not authorized to communicate with the media.

We have members who are Senior Advocates and Professors of Law, and they will be defending the union pro gratis, the insider added. “The president is supposed to handle this, but we will be in court on Monday (today).

Dr. Chris Piwuna, national vice-president of the union, stated that members will attend the hearing in court while chatting with our reporter.

Tomorrow (Monday) am, we will appear in court. We spoke with the minister of education earlier, but we are prepared for anything. That is the essence of the conflict, he said.

Dr. Gbolahan Bolarin, the head of the Federal University of Minna ASUU, said in a separate interview, “We are in receipt of the letter and we will be in court tomorrow” (Monday). However, we are startled by Chris Ngige’s choice as labor minister.

hearing more quickly
In order to swiftly put an end to the strike, the Minister of Labor and Employment, Chris Ngige, requested that the matter be heard in a more expedited manner by the court.

In a court document with the file number HMO/LAB/ISO/15, the minister stated, “Given that ASUU members have been on strike since February 14, 2022, and have refused to call off the action despite the apprehension of same, it would be appreciated if this dispute is given an accelerated hearing to bring the dispute to a close.”

SERAP sues Buhari

A lawsuit against the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), has been filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and five university students. The lawsuit requests that the court “declare unlawful the refusal by the Federal Government to meet ASUU’s demands, which has occasioned the prolonged strike and violated the students’ right to quality education.”

This was revealed in a statement released on Sunday by Kolawole Oluwadare, the deputy director of SERAP.

Ngige and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami (SAN) are named as defendants in the lawsuit, according to the statement.

Tayo Oyetibo, the students’ attorney, filed the lawsuit on their behalf and on behalf of SERAP (SAN).

Dongo Davou, Oyebode Babafemi, Ejie Kemkanma, Peter Aniefiok, and Imam Naziru are the students who are co-claimants in the lawsuit.

They are reportedly students at the following institutions, in that order: Plateau State University, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Port Harcourt, University of Uyo, and University of Ibadan.

“An order directing President Buhari and Mr. Ngige to immediately implement all the agreements with ASUU to end the strike action and violation of the students’ right to quality education,” is what SERAP and the students are requesting in the lawsuit with the case number NICN/ABJ/269/2022 that was filed last week at the National Industrial Court, Abuja.

The quality and length of students’ education are both harmed by class disruption, claim SERAP and the students. The country’s already wide inequities in access to higher education have been made worse by this circumstance, further marginalizing economically disadvantaged parents and students.