The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Thursday, said the decision to suspend industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities can only be taken by the union.
The minister, who recently declared his intention to vie for Nigeria’s oval seat, stated this while featuring as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’.
Ngige noted that the time frame of the industrial action can only be determined by ASUU, adding that the union was expected to make the best decision in the interest of Nigerians.
While calling on members of the union to be considerate, the presidential aspirant urged ASUU to reconsider its stance for further deliberations.
On when the issues will be resolved, the minister said, “It depends on ASUU. The ball is in their court. They should go and meet the Benimi Briggs Committee and look at what the committee is doing and make further inputs so that the work can be accelerated,” he said.
He added, “ASUU has to come down from their high horse. You cannot go and start intimidating people in NITDA and threatening the Minister of Digital Economy and Communication with revocation of his professorship that he is a fake professor. You go to ABU and say you are going to withdraw the certificate of the director of NITDA. That’s bullying. It is not allowed in labour negotiations.”
