Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has faulted the move by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to facilitate the payment of withheld salaries of some lecturers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka.
Following the eight-month nationwide industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) last year, the lecturers’ salaries were withheld by the current administration.
In a letter obtained by Newsmen on Monday dated March 30, Ngige had asked the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to pay 204 lecturers of medical faculties at UNIZIK their withheld salaries.
Specifically, the minister said records jointly signed by the deans of medical science, basic clinical sciences, and basic medical sciences faculties respectively at UNIZIK showed that the said lecturers performed their duties while the strike lasted.
According to him, this claim was strengthened by the vice-chancellor of the institution as well as independent findings of the Labour Ministry’s state controller in Anambra.
But this did not go down well with Falana who is the counsel of ASUU. The human rights lawyer argued that the minister’s action contradicts the law.
He said that contrary to Ngige’s claim, the entire lecturers of UNIZIK joined the eight-month strike last year.
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