Peeved by the inability of the state government to pay all their outstanding arrears of salaries, check-off dues and other sundry deductions, lecturers at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State have reiterated their determination to resume their earlier suspended strike action by January 10 should Governor Godwin Obaseki fail to meet their demands.
The institution’s Joint Action Committee (JAC) consists of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
In a statement in Ekpoma and made available to newsmen in Benin City yesterday, they recalled their memorandum of 6th December, 2021 where the authorities were given on or before Monday, 10th January, 2022 to meet all their demands, failing which JAC would resume its earlier suspended strike.
The Action Committee urged the Visitor to the university, Governor Obaseki to ensure the payment of all outstanding arrears of salaries, check-off dues, and other sundry deductions to avert the looming strike.
The statement was signed by the duo of Comrade B.J. Omoikhoje and Comrade J. N. Nweke, chairman and secretary of NAAT; Comrade C. Odiamehi and Comrade S. Akhimien, acting chairman and secretary for NASU; and Comrade Tom O. Onofua and Comrade E. O. Omokhafe, chairman and secretary of SSANU.
The aggrieved unionists said that in total support of “the suits instituted by the local chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as regards the legality or otherwise of the Special Intervention Powers Law 2021 and the 30-day notice of legal action over the recently conducted biometrics verification exercise.
The threat of industrial action comes on the heels of a recent demand by the different staff unions of the university for the dissolution of the Special Intervention Team (SIT) that was recently set up by the state government to exercise the full functions of the Governing Council of the school.