ASUU strike gets FEC attention: As FG orders payment of workers’ salaries

THE Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, appealed to striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off their industrial  action which has crippled activities in the nation’s universities and return to work.
The ASUU strike and a general overview of the education sector occupied the attention of FEC which was presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The council also discussed President Goodluck Jonathan’s five-day state visit to China and resolved that it was essential and beneficial to Nigeria’s economic and investment interests.
According to the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, who alongside Minister of State 1 Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Finance, Viola Nwuliri and Yerima Ngama respectively,  briefed correspondents, said FEC appealed to ASUU to resist the frequent recourse to strike and seek alternative means of pressing home their demands.
Noting that frequent strike actions have negative effects on the polity, he added that FEC resolved to establish negotiations with the striking lecturers at the cabinet level towards finding a lasting solution.
The minister observed that the Federal Government was not unmindful of the challenges in the eduction sector which have led Nigerian students to seek education in other countries including Republic of Benin, adding that government was determined to stop the trend which amounted to waste of valuable foreign exchange.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, on Wednesday, ordered the immediate payment of all outstanding salaries to its workers in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) across the country.
The Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, made this known while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
Moro said that the council had directed the Ministry of Finance to ensure prompt payment of the salaries to the affected staff.
“Council concluded that steps should be taken to ensure that salaries are paid to workers in Ministries, Parastatals and MDAs where salaries have not been paid,’’he said.