The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, will meet on Sunday following the Appeal Court’s decision directing it to immediately halt its eight-month strike (today).
Recall that on Friday, the Appeal Court ruled that the union must halt its protracted industrial action while negotiations are ongoing and ordered the academics who were on strike to comply.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, on February 14 of this year, ASUU shut down all public colleges nationwide in protest of the partial implementation of prior agreements it had with the Federal Government.
ASUU Set To Take Next Step After Appeal Court Ruling
But on September 11, the government led by President Muhammadu Buhari pulled ASUU dragged ASUU to the Industrial Court after futile attempts by the government and other parties to seek a truce with the displeased professors.
On September 24, the court issued an injunction directing the union to resume teaching while talks with the federal government are ongoing.
But angry at the decision, ASUU went to the appellate court to challenge it.
But the Appeal Court said on Friday that the union must abide by the lower court’s decision and cease the strike right away while the merits of the case are being resolved.
In response to the decision, ASUU President Professor Emmanuel Osodeke told Newsmen on Friday that the union would analyze the Appeal Court’s judgement before deciding on its course of action.
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He said, “We have not received the ruling, when we get it, we will review it with our lawyer and then we can take the next step”.
In response to the news on Friday, Chris Ngige, the minister of labor and employment, stated that labor inspectors are checking schools in all of the federation’s States to make sure they are following the Court of Appeal’s decision.
“I have asked labour controllers in the states and the zones to go to the schools and see if the vice-chancellors have opened the gates.
“If they don’t, they will be charged for contempt,” he said while featuring on a Channels Television program.
The National Executive Council of ASUU will meet today to discuss the Appeal Court judgment, according to a union member who requested anonymity and spoke to Newsmen on Saturday.
See How Much ASUU Is Expected To Receive To Call Off Strike
He said, “The Appeal Court ruling will be critically reviewed on Sunday and it is after that we will know the fate of Nigerian students who have been forced to stay at home for almost eight months due to the Federal Government’s negligence.
“Ngige and the Buhari government failed to understand that even if they force the union to resume work, they cannot force the lecturers to teach the Nigerian students whose future have been jeopardized”.
However, when contacted for confirmation, the ASUU president simply said, “we don’t advertise our meeting, it is private”.
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