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Anthony Ufoh
The Minister for Education, Tunji Alausa, has retracted his claims that there has been no agreement that exists between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
The minister said that indeed that there was an agreement that was signed in 2009.
Alausa, in a statement released on Friday, clarified that the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement remains the only valid and binding document to date.
His retraction is coming barely 24 hours after he dismissed ASUU’s position as being based on a mere draft, insisting no agreement had ever been signed, a claim the union immediately faulted.
The ministry, however, acknowledged that the 2009 agreement stands as the last officially signed pact.
According to the statement, efforts to review the agreement began in 2017, when the then Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, inaugurated a renegotiation committee.
That process reportedly produced the draft Nimi Briggs Agreement in May 2021, but the government emphasised that it was never formally executed.
“When the Honourable Minister stated that there had been ‘no new signed agreement’ with ASUU, he was referring specifically to the 2021 draft Nimi Briggs document, which has not been formally executed.
“The Ministry, therefore, reaffirms that the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement remains the last formally signed agreement. The 2021 draft serves only as the latest framework for discussions,” the statement read in part.
The ministry further assured that the government remains committed to resolving the 16-year-old impasse with ASUU through sustainable and constitutionally backed measures, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
It urged the public and stakeholders to disregard any misinterpretations of the minister’s earlier remarks, stressing that keeping universities open for teaching and research remains the administration’s priority.
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