ASUU refusal to suspend strike amazing – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday decried the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Buhari, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, spoke on the development after a meeting with the 36 state governors at the State House, Abuja.

He described as “amazing” the ASUU refusal to suspend its eight-month strike.

The president said the varsity “lecturers had not taken into consideration the larger challenges facing the country.”

He said: “The government conceded something. The problem is that they refused to look at the problem of the whole country.

READ ALSO: ASUU agreed to suspend strike before December 9 – Ngige

“The Minister of Labour is working hard at it. It is amazing how ASUU will stay out of classrooms for so long. There’s a need for our elites to understand the challenges facing the country.”

ASUU embarked on an indefinite strike in March over demands for more funding for public universities.

The union also opposed the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) preferred by the government for payment of its workers’ salaries and developed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as an alternative to the government’s platform.

However, the federal government had since agreed to exempt ASUU members from enrollment in IPPIS.

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