The House of Representatives is making arrangements for a N170 billion fund for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the 2023 budget.
The measure, according to the House Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, will increase the welfare package for ASUU university instructors, he said in a statement on Monday.
He claimed that initiatives were being made to address every concern brought up by ASUU.
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Gbajabiamila also said that an additional N300 billion revitalization fund was included in the budget to upgrade the facilities and management of the federal universities.
The statement read;
We are currently working on the 2023 Appropriations Bill, which includes the sum of one hundred and seventy billion naira (N170,000,000,000.00) to provide a level of increment in the welfare package of university lecturers.
The Bill also includes an additional three hundred billion naira (N300,000,000,000.00) in revitalization funds to improve the infrastructure and operations of federal universities.
The Speaker said that President Buhari is eager to investigate the most recent problems and worries brought forth by the university professors.
According to Gbajabiamila, the Federal Government’s “no work, no pay” stance during the ASUU strike is based on the law.
He said that the choice was made based on the government’s legal interest in averting moral hazard and deterring disruptive industrial operations.
Nonetheless, interventions have been made to explore the possibility of partial payments to the lecturers. We look forward to a favourable consideration by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR who has manifested his desire for what is prudent and necessary to resolve all outstanding issues.
Implementing meaningful change takes time, especially when appropriations and modifications to systems such as IPPIS are required.
Therefore, I urge all parties to be patient and grant each other the presumption of goodwill to the extent necessary to achieve our shared objectives. This is not a time for political brinkmanship.
There is no more pressing objective than to preclude the possibility of further disruptions to the academic calendar of the universities. We must prevent this possibility by all means, as these disruptions risk the promise and potential of our nation’s youth.
