INEC to meet ASUU on Friday over 2019 elections
- Ahead of 2019 general elections, INEC has decided to hold a consultative meeting with the lecturers’ union, ASUU
- The national president of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, made this the development known on Monday, December 31
- The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities disagreed with the statement by INEC that the strike by university lecturers could jeopardise the elections
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to hold a meeting with the lecturers’ union, the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) on Friday, January 4, ahead of 2019 general polls.
Premium Times reports that the national president of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, confirmed the development on Monday, December 31.
According to Ogunyemi, the major reason for the meeting is for the union to assist the electoral body in the forthcoming election.
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The meeting, according to the electoral body, will be limited to the involvement of their members in the 2019 general elections. Ogunyemi said the meeting will hold in Abuja.
INEC had raised an alarm that the lingering ASUU strike would no doubt have a serious impact on the preparations for the conduct of the 2019 elections.
The commission said: “They are one critical resource and their absence will have adverse effects on the ad hoc staff requirement of INEC.''
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) disagreed with the statement by INEC that the strike by university lecturers could jeopardise the 2019 elections saying, “the ongoing national strike by ASUU has nothing to do with the 2019 elections.”
INEC’s national commissioner and chairman voter education and publicity, Festus Okoye, saying the commission is hopeful and positive that its scheduled meeting with the leadership of ASUU and the leadership of other unions in federal tertiary institutions on Friday would yield the desired result.
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Okoye said: “ASUU leadership and the leadership of the commission led by the Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, will hold a consultative meeting with the leadership of ASUU on the 4th day of January 2019.”
“The commission wants to emphasise that the meeting with the various unions will be limited to the involvement of their members in the 2019 general elections and how to manage the current industrial action for it not to affect the patriotic contributions of staff and students in the electoral process.”
He said it was also incumbent on the various stakeholders in the electoral process to nudge the parties towards a negotiated settlement of the issues that led to the industrial action in the various tertiary institutions.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has involved United Nations Special Rapporteurs in the agreement between the federal government and the striking ASUU.
SERAP urged international body to prevail upon the agreement between the government and the union saying failure to end the ongoing strike is also a fundamental breach of the right to higher education.
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