We can’t pay for work not done — FG


…dismisses reports of selective treatment, half salary payment to ASUU members

The Federal Government has dismissed media reports alleging bias in the payment of salaries to members of the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria, ASUU.

It also debunked  the claim by ASUU that members were paid half salary for the month of October.

In a statement, yesterday, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment  described both reports as inaccurate, misleading and barefaced distortion of facts, pointing out that members of ASUU were paid their October salary pro-rata, and not half salary as  widely reported.

The statement by Olajide Oshundun, Head of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, explained that pro-rata was done because they cannot be paid for work not done.

The statement informed that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, never directed the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the university lecturers half salary.

The statement reads in part, “Following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the order of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), asking ASUU to go back to work, the leadership of the union wrote to the Minister, informing him that they have suspended the strike. The Federal Ministry of Education wrote to him in a similar vein and our labour inspectors in various states also confirmed that they have resumed work.

“So, the Minister wrote to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, directing that their salaries should be restored. They were paid in pro-rata to the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action. Pro-rata was done because you cannot pay them for work not done. Everybody’s hands are tied. “

The ministry equally faulted a statement by the Chairperson of ASUU, Usman Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS) branch, Muhammad N. Al-Mustapha, accusing the Minister of Labour and Employment of biased payment of salaries to selected professional members of the union.

Culled from Vanguard

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