Strike: ASUU To Vote In All Branches Today And Tomorrow, Strike May End In Days

Branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) will today commence traditional voting and end tomorrow (Wednesday) to decide the fate of the current eight-month-old strike.

Naija News reports that the result of the various branches will be transmitted to the National Executive Council (NEC) for final decision.

A Punch Newspaper report noted that a highly-placed source within the NEC who disclosed the voting plans said “we got the directive after the meeting with the speaker yesterday (Monday). The intervention was timely. Branches will vote between today and tomorrow after which the decisions will be convened to the NEC.”

This follows the union’s meeting with the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who called several meetings between the academic union and the side of the Federal Government.

ASUU’s lead counsel Femi Falana (SAN) was reported to have also disclosed that the strike would be over in a few days.

Recall that Naija News reported that the lead counsel for ASUU, Femi Falana, on Monday disclosed that the union is ready to call off the strike.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) revealed this in a statement. He called on President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to fast-track and finalise its negotiations with ASUU.

According to Falana, the meeting between the leadership of ASUU and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the presidency over the union’s demand would yield positive results.

Speaking on the state of the ASUU strike, Falana said, “Our clients are ready to call off the strike. The Federal Government should fast-track and finalise the negotiations.

“Hon Gbajabiamila and his colleagues in the House of Representatives have been in touch with the Presidency over the matter.

“I am reasonably confident that the consultations between the House and the Presidency will yield positive results in the interest of the striking lecturers and the students.”

This is coming days after the president of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke said the union would study the ruling of the appeal court which ordered its members to return to work.

ASUU had on Monday, February 14, 2022, embarked on a strike over what the union described as the failure of the government to meet lingering demands of the union.