…Ngige storms out of meeting
All entreaties to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to accept the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information system (IPPIS) as a platform for payment of lecturers fell on deaf ears during the peace move initiated by the House of Representatives to resolve the impasse between the striking lecturers and the Federal Government.
In the third of a series of meetings, at the instance of the leadership of the House on Thursday to broker peace, no agreement was reached. In the meeting, which lasted about three hours it was an atmosphere filled with tension and emotion that led to raised voices and arguments that the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, tried to manage rising tempers.
At a point, the leader of the House, Alhassan Doguwa, inferred that ASUU was being unreasonable, as he said there was no grounds that the association should reject the options offered by the Federal Government to address the issue. He said all stakeholders, including the House, were on one page, while ASUU was on the other.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, reportedly angrily left the meeting, which was spearheaded by the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to resolve the on-going strike by ASUU
During the meeting, which was held on Wednesday in Abuja, all the stakeholders from both parties were in attendance to resolve the issue. Ngige reportedly accused ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, of asking Nigerians to vote out the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023, which according to him was unacceptable.
After a shouting match with Osodeke, the Labour minister stormed out of the building.
