Education Minister Tunji Alausa has dismissed claims that government signed binding agreements with ASUU.
He clarified referenced documents were negotiation drafts, not ratified deals, though lecturers’ demands remain under review.
Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has refuted suggestions that the Federal Government entered into binding agreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), stressing that the documents being referenced were only drafts used during negotiations.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja on Thursday, Alausa explained that the papers from 2009 and 2011, which ASUU frequently presents as formal agreements, were in fact never ratified. Instead, he described them as proposals exchanged at the time of discussions but never officially endorsed.
“The so-called agreements repeatedly mentioned by ASUU are actually negotiation drafts that were never signed into law,” he clarified.
The minister also rejected claims that he had arranged a joint meeting with ASUU alongside the Minister of Labour and Employment, insisting that such reports were misleading.
Despite this, Alausa maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s government is committed to addressing the long-standing concerns of university lecturers. Earlier this year, the administration released ₦50 billion to settle outstanding earned academic allowances owed to academic and non-academic staff.
ASUU, however, continues to push for concrete steps on issues such as improved wages, better working conditions, sustainable funding for universities, institutional autonomy, and amendments to laws governing bodies like the National Universities Commission and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
