The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says none of its members has been paid by the Federal Government since the union embarked on industrial action in February.

The Star recalls that ASUU embarked on strike on February 14 over the alleged refusal of the Federal Government to keep to the agreement entered with the union.

The union demands include implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU renegotiation Agreement, deployment of UTAS, payment of outstanding arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), promotion arrears, and release of withheld salaries of academics.

Speaking on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily, on Tuesday, the ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, accused the Federal Government of withholding the salaries of the striking university lecturers to force them to end the ongoing strike.

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Osodeke added that the Federal Government was wrong in thinking that depriving the university lecturers of their salaries would force them back to work.

“Our salaries have been withheld. This is the sixth month our salaries have been withheld.

“They thought that if they hold our salaries for two or three months we will come begging and say ‘please allow us to go back to work’.

“But as a union of intellectuals, we have grown beyond that. You can’t use the force of hunger to pull our members back, which is exactly what the government is doing,” the ASUU President said.

The Star