The federal government, Thursday night, commended the Academic Staff Unions of Universities (ASUU) for its patience and understanding after it suspended its three months old strike.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Chris Ngige, said eight areas of disagreements were discussed and resolved by the two parties.
He spoke to newsmen in Abuja after a meeting with Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU National President.
“We have dealt with all the eight contending issues and some of them have been implemented”, Ngige said.
“ASUU has license for the Universities Pension Management Company on January 28, 2018.
“On the issue of salary shortfall in the universities, the Federal Government has released N16billion, out of which N15.384billion is for universities, while the rest is for other tertiary institutions.
“The Vice-Chancellors have acknowledged the receipt of the funds.
“We also have the issue of a committee to liase with state government-owned universities, ASUU and the Federal Government through the Ministry of Education. That committee has been inaugurated two weeks ago.
“The visitation panel has been constituted and will commence work on March 2, 2019.
“On the issue of earned allowances, the Federal Government has released N20billion for the payment to all categories of university staff.
“For the earned academic allowance, the Federal Government has released N25billion and for the revitalization fund, a total of N25billion will be released in the period between April and May 2019.
“The Federal Government will also resume full implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered into in 2019,” he said.