ASUU demand mustn’t go against government salary commission – Ngige

<h4><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">The Minister of Labour and Employment&comma; Dr&period; Chris Ngige&comma; has stated on Tuesday in Abuja that the Federal Government was committed to increasing university lecturers&&num;8217&semi; remuneration packages&period;<&sol;span><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-20055" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;thedailypage&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2022&sol;03&sol;ASUU-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1500" height&equals;"967" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">Ngige spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the status of the Federal Government&&num;8217&semi;s current engagement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">Yes&comma; our university lecturers do deserve good pay&comma; according to the minister&period; A worker is entitled to pay&period; So&comma; if we compare what occurs in other areas and they are not adequately remunerated&comma; there is nothing stopping the government from doing some compensation raise and making them happy within the limited resources we have&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">So&comma; while we are not opposed to it&comma; there is a process in place which I have made known to them<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">Ngige stated that a deadline had been set for the conclusion of the draft proposal the union submitted to the Ministry of Education for their working conditions and wages&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">He stated that when the relevant committee&comma; chaired by the pro-chancellors&comma; submits its report&comma; it will be reviewed alongside the National Salaries and Wages Commission to ensure that the proposed allowances do not exceed the government&&num;8217&semi;s existing fixtures&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">Buhari&comma; he said&comma; was satisfied with his brief&comma; and the 2020 December agreement with ASUU is on track for implementation&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">Meanwhile&comma; the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria slammed Education Minister Adamu Adamu for walking out of a meeting with representatives of the National Association of Nigerian Students to discuss ASUU&&num;8217&semi;s lingering strike on Tuesday&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span style&equals;"font-size&colon; 14pt&semi;">The union called the minister&&num;8217&semi;s actions ridiculous and threatened a solidarity strike with ASUU if the issue was not resolved within two weeks&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;