Reports that Vice President Professor. Yemi Osinbajo has taken over negotiations with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the strike is “untrue,” according to his spokesperson Laolu Akande.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige was quoted after the Federal Council Meeting (FEC) on Wednesday to have said Osinbajo will henceforth lead the negotiations with ASUU.
Ngige said, “At Council today, the Vice President has taken over some of the aspects of the negotiations and discussions.”
“So, we are continuing the meeting in his office and when we finish meeting, we will get back to ASUU for another round of meeting and we are hopeful that we will be able to go to an appreciable extent to solve some of the outstanding issues that are preventing them from going back to work.’’
However, early Friday Osinbajo retweeted a tweet by Laolu Akande, his media aide, debunking the reports.
The tweet read: “News reports that VP Osinbajo has taken over ASUU negotiations is untrue & inaccurate. Labour & Education Ministers continue to lead d talks.”
ASUU has been on strike for about two weeks demanding implementation of previous agreements, full payment of salaries and improved government funding of universities.
