The Federal Government has denied media accusations from some quarters that the half-salary payment to ASUU members for the month of October was subject to bias and discrimination.
In a statement, Mr. Olajide Oshundu, Head of the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s Press and Public Relations Unit, refutes accusations made by the ASUU that its members received half pay for the month of October.
The statement notes that members of ASUU received their full October wage, not half of what was reported in the media, and calls both reports “grossly false, deceptive, and distortions of facts.”
Pro-rata payment was made, according to the statement, because workers cannot be compensated for labor that is not performed in accordance with current labor rules.
The statement goes on to make clear that Dr. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, never gave the Accountant General of the Federation instructions to pay university lecturers half salary. Instead, Dr. Ngige only wrote to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning to request that the salaries of ASUU members be reinstated.
As a result, starting on the day they stopped their industrial action, they were paid pro rata for the number of days they worked in October.
