By Mahdi Waziri Isa
In a swift reversal, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has clarified his position and officially acknowledged that a signed agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) does indeed exist, contradicting his own statements from a day earlier.
The minister’s initial claim, made to reporters in Abuja on Thursday, insisted that no such agreement was in place and that ASUU was merely “parading a draft.” This assertion was immediately rejected by the union.
However, a clarification issued on Friday by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Boriowo Folasade, formally admitted that the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement remains the “most recent signed and binding document” between both parties.
The statement, titled ‘Clarification on minister’s statement regarding FGN-ASUU agreements’, sought to reframe the minister’s controversial remarks. It explained, “When the minister said there had been ‘no new signed agreement’ with ASUU, he was referring specifically to the 2021 draft Nimi Briggs document, which has not been formally executed.”
The ministry outlined efforts to update the 2009 pact, noting a renegotiation committee was established in 2017, which produced the unsigned draft agreement in May 2021.
“The federal government remains committed to ending the 16-year stalemate with ASUU in a sustainable and constitutionally backed manner,” the statement assured, urging the public to disregard any misinterpretation of the minister’s earlier comments.
This governmental U-turn was met with skepticism from ASUU, which has long criticized the government’s approach to negotiations. The President of ASUU, Professor Chris Piwuna, had earlier highlighted a core issue, stating, “In all our dealings with the federal government, one thing stands out. Their record-keeping is very poor in all our dealings with them.”
Meanwhile, amidst this dispute over past agreements, ASUU has put forward a new demand: that the federal government extend the seven-year establishment rule for private universities to colleges of education and polytechnics.