‘Members free to serve as INEC adhoc staff’
Indications emerged at the weekend that the lingering crisis in the university education sector may extend beyond the forthcoming general elections. This became evident as universities lecturers, under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, stuck to their guns, saying their ongoing indefinite strike would continue until the Federal Government acceded to their demand of improved funding of the university system in the country.
ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, gave the hint while speaking with The Point in an exclusive interview on Friday after the meeting of his association with the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“The strike has nothing to do with the election, so it has not been resolved,” he affirmed.
INEC had raised the hope of an early resolution of the crisis when it disclosed that the ASUU strike might have serious impact on preparations for the conduct of the 2019 general election, as many of the lecturers would be participating in the elections as adhoc staff and Returning Officers.
The Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Festus Okoye, stated this, saying the electoral body would try to mediate in the face-off between ASUU and the Federal Government towards calling off the lingering strike now running into the second month.
“For the 2019 elections, INEC will recruit and deploy over one million adhoc staff made up of lecturers and students in federal tertiary institutions and corps members,” he had said.
“These category of adhoc staff will serve as returning officers, collation officers, supervisory presiding officers and assistant presiding officers,” he added.
However, maintaining that the demands by ASUU were equally of national importance as the forthcoming general elections, Ogunyemi said ASUU members were free to participate as Adhoc staff for the election on their own.
“We reached an understanding that our members are free to participate in the election as adhoc staff on their own if they like. On our side, we will not disturb the electoral system; we will not do anything. Any member who is willing to be an adhoc staff for the election can do that on their own, not under our body,” he maintained.
Speaking on the fund purported to have been released to the universities as part of ASUU’s demands, Ogunyemi said the Federal Government had not released any fund or met any of their demands.
“The fund of about N15bn stated to have been sent has not been received as no school has confirmed it, ”he said, adding, “Government should meet our demands and make sure the students go back to their studies.”
On the way out of the lingering crisis ahead of the next meeting with the Federal Government, the ASUU President said, “Our next meeting is January 7. If the Government attends to us, then we can review it.”
ASUU is assertive in its declarations, lamenting government’s continued neglect in implementing outstanding issues in the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, as well as the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties. The union also expressed anger over the purported claims by the government that it had released N15.89billion to the universities for the payment of shortfall in salaries of universities. The cash was expected to hit the accounts of all institutions on or before January 2 but it never did.
Ogunyemi said ASUU never received a formal information concerning the released fund.
His disclosures came as the Chairman of the Union, Southwest, Deji Omole, also denied the payment, saying even if ASUU was not on strike, its members’ participation in the election would have been voluntary and subject to each individual.
“We are not part of INEC; therefore, INEC can look elsewhere for ad-hoc staff to conduct the election,” Omole said.
The ongoing saga has again brought to the fore the unending crisis in the public education sector and the uncertainty in the future of the Nigerian students who are at the receiving end.
