News

Strike: ASUU, FG Resume Talks on Monday

Published

6 years ago

January 20, 2019

Eric

The Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government are to resume talks Monday (tomorrow) on how to resolve the impasse over the two-month-old strike embarked upon by lecturers.

The Punch reported that National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, confirmed the development in a telephone interview on Friday.

He, however, said the union was not optimistic about the prospects of an early resolution of the industrial dispute.

In response to a question on whether there had been any fresh development with regard to the resolution of the dispute, Ogunyemi said, “I’ am afraid nothing new. I understand they will be meeting us on Monday. Let’s wait and see if they take a reasonable step; it will determine our next line of action. Until then, let’s wait and see.”

The ASUU president had in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH last week said members of the union were tired of government’s failed promises.

He said, “Last year, they promised to release the funds but they did not until November when the strike began. Our members are saying they do not want promises again; what they want is action, implementation or disbursement of funds.

“The government must act in a way to convince the union that the agreement has not been set aside. To show that the government has not set aside the agreement, they should release one tranche.”

He explained that in order to forestall a situation where ASUU and the government would restart negotiations on arrears of earned academic allowances, both sides had agreed that “it would be mainstreamed into the 2019 budget.”

Ogunyemi also said, “We are going to have a discussion on when to commence renegotiation because there are still grey areas. If the government can substantially address these issues, we will be more confident to face our members on the way forward. For now, the signals we are getting is that our members do not actually want to accept this government proposal from us.”

Members of ASUU went on strike on November 4, 2018 to demand for improved funding of universities and implementation of previous agreements with the government.

The union is also seeking the implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU; 2012 and 2013) and Memorandum of Action (MoA, 2017), among others.

The union is also asking the Federal Government to expedite action on the release of funds to revitalise public universities in accordance with the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013 and the MoA of 2017.

The university teachers are also demanding the release of the operational licence of the Nigerian University Employees Pension Company.

The Director of Press at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Samuel Olowookere, could not be reached when one of our correspondents tried to get the reaction of the Federal Government on the issue

But a source in the ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told SUNDAY PUNCH that ASUU should be blamed for the delay in reopening the universities.

The source added that the FG had showed commitment to the ASUU’s demands and that it was better to start from what the FG had offered than to halt negotiation.

“The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, had told the leadership of ASUU that the FG would accept many of their demands but flexibility is needed to implement the rest. They left the meeting happy and said they would discuss the progress with their other organs. But they had delayed in moving forward. The blame is no longer in on the FG. ASUU should come forward with what they think of the FG’s commitment so far.”

The Punch

News

Edo Guber: Tribunal Dismisses Ighodalo’s Petition, Affirms Okpebholo As Duly Elected

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2025

Eric

The Edo Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, affirmed Senator Monday Okpebholo as the governor.

A three-member panel headed by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, against the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

In its judgment, the panel ruled that the petitioners failed to call competent witnesses to prove the allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

‎‎In the lead judgment read by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the Tribunal said non-compliance must be proven convincingly. It noted that the failure of the petitioners to call polling unit officers, presiding officers or even voters during the election proved fatal to their petition.

The Tribunal stated that most of the 19 witnesses called by the PDP merely gave hearsay evidence during the proceedings.

‎‎Justice Kpochi faulted what he termed as the PDP’s reliance on Section 137 of the Electoral Act to dump documents on the Tribunal. The Tribunal noted that it’s not for it to scrutinise documents tendered by the petitioners.

‎‎The Edo Tribunal further said the BVAS machines tendered by the petitioners remain dormant, as it’s not the duty of the Tribunal to access the data in the machines.

‎‎In the unanimous decision, the Tribunal thereby restated that to prove overvoting as alleged by Ighodalo and the PDP, there’s a need to tender the voters register, BVAS machines and polling unit results or Forms EC8A.

Following that, the Tribunal dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo, candidate of PDP for lacking merit.

‎‎INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured 291,667 votes to defeat Ighodalo who got 247,655 votes. PDP approached the Tribunal to challenge the results from 765 polling units of the 4,519 units in Edo State.

‎The PDP candidate faulted the outcome of the election on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and the failure of Monday Okphebholo to secure a majority of the lawful votes cast. Putting that in context, the PDP governorship candidate alleged improper computation of votes by INEC, non-serialisation of electoral materials and over-voting.

News

Sen Natasha Defies Ban, Holds Rally in Kogi, Receives Rousing Welcome

Published

1 day ago

April 2, 2025

Eric

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, on Tuesday, received a rousing welcome from her supporters and residents of the Ihima community of Kogi State, despite the government’s ban on rallies and processions.

As early as 8am, her supporters from the five local government areas of Kogi Central Senatorial District that Akpoti-Uduaghan represents flooded the Ihima community of Okehi Local Government Area (LGA) to welcome the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker.

Several local musicians took turns entertaining the people who attended the celebration while they awaited the arrival of the female lawmaker.

It did not, however, take long before the embattled senator arrived at the place in a white helicopter, eliciting applause from her teeming, jubilant supporters.

“Yesterday, we heard on the news that rallies and gatherings will not be allowed, that roads will be blocked, and convoys leading into the state will not be allowed. I knew that we were the targets. But then I said, this is not political season, this is not campaign time,” the lawmaker told her supporters and constituents.

“We are not having a rally. This is just me, the Senator representing Kogi Central, coming down to her people to celebrate this festive time – the Sallah with you, and there is nothing wrong with that. I am breaking no law. This is Nigeria. We have the right to be free, to express our choice in gatherings and celebrations.”

Her return comes hours after the Kogi State Government banned public gatherings and processions, citing security threats.

This was followed by the imposition of a curfew in the area by the Okehi Local Government Area chairman, Amoka Monday, and a warning from the police for her to cancel the event.

Despite the warnings, the lawmaker told the crowd of supporters that no one can stop her from coming home.

“Nobody and nothing can stop me from coming home. I’m an Ebira woman; this is my land. I’m the daughter of the late Jimoh Abdul Akpoti. I know my roots; I’m not a bastard, and I’m not afraid of anybody,” the PDP senator said.

News

Edo Guber Tribunal Delivers Judgment Today

Published

2 days ago

April 2, 2025

Eric

The Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, has
scheduled Wednesday, April 2, 2025, to deliver its judgment on the petition filed by Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo in the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election.

A three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, reserved judgment on March 3 after parties in the suit concluded their final arguments.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on September 22 declared Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election with 291,667 votes, defeating Ighodalo, who polled 247,274 votes, and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who garnered 22,763 votes.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, alleging widespread irregularities, including
over-voting, ballot serialisation issues, errors in collation, and miscalculations in results.

In the suit marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024,
Ighodalo presented a senior technical officer from INEC’s ICT department as a witness, who tendered 154 BVAS machines as evidence to substantiate claims of
over-voting.

Adopting his final address, Ighodalo further alleged that results from 765 polling units were manipulated at the collation centers and that errors in computation affected the final outcome.

He urged the tribunal to nullify the Certificate of Return issued to Okpebholo and declare him the rightful winner of the election.