ASUU files another appeal against court ruling ordering lecturers to suspend strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has again filed an appeal against the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria which ordered the striking lecturers to return back to work,

The Counsel for ASUU, Femi Falana, SAN made this known while speaking with some reporters in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Saturday, October 22, 2022.

Recall that on Friday, October 16, 2022, ASUU suspended its eight-month-old strike which had shut down public universities in the country to demand full implementation of agreements it had entered into with the Federal Government a few years ago.

While the strike lingered, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu Adamu, claimed that the government had resolved most of the demands of ASUU. Among the demands addressed, according to the Minister, was the release of N50 billion for the payment of earned allowances for universities’ academic and non-academic and non-academic staff.

However, ASUU refused to return to work following the government’s insistence not to pay the union’s arrears for the strike period.

The Federal Government then dragged the union to the National Industrial Court, asking the court to order the lecturer back to class. The National Industrial Court and subsequently the Court of Appeal ruled that the lecturers must return to the classroom as negotiations continue.

In the new development, Falana, who also shared the official documents of the appeal with our reporter, noted that the union was still awaiting the official hearing date from the appellate court.

“The appeal was filed on October 14, 2022. However, no date for hearing yet,” Falana had said.

Speaking further on Ngige’s advice for ASUU to take CONUA to court over registration, Falana said, “The minister knows that he deliberately committed illegality. He should have gone to court to find out the legality of his proliferation of unions among academic staff in the universities.”