The federal government has released sixteen-point-eight billion naira to settle outstanding salary arrears of staff in the country’s tertiary institutions. The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who disclosed this during the “Sixth Edition of the Ministerial Press Briefing’’ in Abuja, said that disbursement is ongoing through the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Adamu said that the government has resolved all issues and awaits the academic unions to also call off their strike in the coming days. The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has been on strike since the twelfth of December, while the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) started on the fourth of November.
According to him, the federal government has reached agreement in the review of Polytechnic Act while the government awaits the transmittal of the amended document by the National Assembly to Mr President for his assent. Others, he said, were the revitalization of polytechnics and colleges of education, renegotiation of the 2010 agreements, saying that government is committed to the revitalization of facilities in its public tertiary institutions.
The minister also said that the government had directed the Minister of Finance to source for additional funding to the tune of N30 billion for the purpose, with particular reference to polytechnics and colleges of education.
Similarly, Mr Adamu noted that the government team had reached agreement with ASUU. He, however, commended the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) for calling off its strike to allow the students in colleges of education get back to academic activities.
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