The House of Representatives Committee on Education, on Monday, failed in its bid to resolve the over 10 months strike action embarked on by Academic Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU).
This emanated from a peace meeting packaged by the House Committee on Education to end the protracted strike by the unions against the Federal Government.
The peace deal was thwarted by the disclosure of the Minister of Education, Mr Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, that the salary arrears of polytechnic staff, which is one of their demands, was not captured in the 2014 budget.
The minister, who was represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr McJohn Nwaobiala, also maintained that the Federal Government would release the white paper on the visitation panel to federal polytechnics this week or next week.
He added that “there is willingness on the part of the Federal Government to pay the CONTISS-14 salary arrears,” but stressed that there was no provision in the budget for it.
On his part, National President of ASUP, Comrade Chibuzo Asumogha, said that the Federal Government had failed to implement the condensed 4-point demand of the union.
While declaring the sitting open, the Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Hon Aminu Suleiman, said the meeting was a fall-out of the motion raised on the issue last week and the charge by the speaker that the committee attended to the letter which ASUP presented.
Naija Telescope 