The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has assigned Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to henceforth chair the concluding part of the ongoing negotiation between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU, an umbrella association of lecturers in the nation’s universities, is demanding the full implementation of the 2009 agreements reached with the federal government bordering on improvement in welfare and payment of backlog of salaries and entitlements, among other issues.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, confirmed this development while fielding questions from State House correspondents after the meeting of the FEC in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ngige Has Stated that this was part of the council’s resolutions at the meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, his first meeting with all the members of the cabinet, since his return from medical vacation on August 19.
At council on Wednesday, the Vice President has taken over some of the aspects of the negotiations and discussions.
“So, we are continuing the meeting in his office and when we finish meeting, we will get back to ASUU for another round of meeting and we are hopeful that we will be able to go to an appreciable extent to solve some of the outstanding issues that is preventing them from going back to work,’’ he said.
