Ngige’s quarrel with Adamu, ASUU not helping matters, Jega slams labour minister as strike continues

Professor Attahiru Jega, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accused Chris Ngige, minister of labor and employment, of making personal matters out of disagreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Jega spoke during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday.

“At the end of it, they make an agreement but when they get to the government, they say it is unrealistic, and these are some of the challenges, and I want to say something here, the minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, is not helping matters, he has turned this thing into a personal quarrel between him and the minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on one hand, and between himself and the academic union on the other.

“The painful thing is while many other people are trying to find a way of addressing this situation so that students can go back to school and lecturers go back to work, he is just creating challenges.

Read also: ASUU’s existence under peril as Nigerian govt registers rival union

“He took the matter to the industrial court and the decision has been appealed by ASUU and now, he has registered two unions while trying to proscribe ASUU. If this is allowed by this government, I think it is a recipe for disaster and it may really create more problems than it can solve on this matter of strike action,” Jega bemoaned.

Ngige took the striking lecturers to the national industrial court after the government and ASUU’s negotiations fell apart.

Additionally, the government had given the university system permission to join two more unions — Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA).

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