There appears to be no end in sight for the on-going strike embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities as the Federal Government has declared that it does not have the resources to meet the financial demands of the University lecturers.
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Okonjo Iweala indicated this in her speech at the opening of a two-day meeting of Commissioners of Finance and Accountants Generals of states ministries of Finance in Minna.
She noted that the N92 billion being demanded by the University lecturers is not within the reach of the Federal Government.
‘At present, ASUU wants the federal government to pay N92bn in extra allowances, when resources are not there and when we are working to integrate past increases in pensions. We need to make choices in this country as we are getting to the stage where recurrent expenditures take the bulk of our resources and people get paid but can do no work’.
She stated that if the demands of the university lecturers are met and ‘we continue to pay them salaries and allowances we will not be able to provide infrastructure in the universities.’
The resumed talks between the federal government and the representatives of the striking lectures (ASUU) which was held yesterday in Abuja ended in a deadlock, recounting the last meeting before yesterday also ended in a deadlock.
However, both parties will be meeting on Monday the 19th of August, we hope that the parties will be able to reach agreeable conclusion with the recent revelation by the Minister of Finance.
