The call was made by the UniCal ASUU Chairman, Dr. Peter Ubi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Calabar.
The Briggs committee was set up by the Federal Government to renegotiate the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement. The committee submitted a draft renegotiated agreement in 2021, but it has yet to be approved or signed.
Dr. Ubi said the Federal Government has shown a lack of willingness to address the concerns of ASUU, despite the union’s concessions during negotiations.
According to him, after ASUU suspended its strike and gave the government a one-month ultimatum, no meaningful progress was made. He noted that although the union initially proposed African Average Salaries for professors before shifting to the West African Average to accommodate government concerns, the Federal Government rejected both and instead offered the Briggs committee proposal—which ASUU accepted.
“Our surprise now is that the government has refused to sign the outcome of the Briggs-led committee which it initiated,” Ubi said.
He added that ASUU rejected the 35 percent salary increase recently proposed by the Federal Government because it deviated significantly from the Briggs committee’s recommendations.
“The government is using delay tactics, but the position of ASUU remains unchanged. We stand firmly on the Briggs-led agreement,” he said.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, recently stated that the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement remained the last formally signed pact between both parties.
