Ogun Govt Denies Owing OOU Teachers’ Salary Arrears
The Ogun State government has refuted claims by the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) chapter, alleging that that the State government have not paid its members salaries and allowances for 16 months.
Recall that following allegations that the government owes staffs of the university 16 months’ salary arrears, the lecturers embarked on an indefinite strike.
However, the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, in a statement in Abeokuta said the recent recognition of the university by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as the best state university in Nigeria punctured the notion that the state government had not done enough to revamp the institution.
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Mujota, who said the government had always met its part of its obligations to the staff of the institution, added that they would not be railroaded into executing a contract it did not enter into with the academic union.
The government denied ever entering into contract on the payment of Earned Academic Allowances being demanded by the lecturers, tasking the academic body to provide any proof of such agreement.
The statement read, “We state categorically that we do not owe the teachers as alleged. They should provide any evidence of the contractual obligation the state government has breached with regard to their salaries and allowances.”
“Education remains the first cardinal programme of Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s administration. This is the reason why the sector has always received the lion’s share of the state’s annual budget.
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“Government is committed to its policy of regular payment of salary in spite of the current financial challenges across the country.
“Ogun State Government therefore calls for the understanding of the striking lecturers and implores them to return to classes while Government weighs its options.”
