President Bola Tinubu has invoked the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, and has consequently approved the partial waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order that was instituted against striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) following the commencement of their eight-month industrial action which began on February 14, 2022 and was terminated on October 17, 2022.
This was made known by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale in a State House press release to newsmen.
Ajuri said, “in view of his determination to mitigate the difficulties being felt during the implementation of key economic reforms in the country, as well as his recognition of the faithful implementation of terms which were agreed upon during the fruitful deliberations between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has directed the grant of an exceptional last waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order on ASUU, which will allow for the previously striking members of ASUU to receive four (4) months of salary accruals out of the eight months of salary which was withheld during the eight-month industrial action undertaken by the union.”
The President however directed the grant of the waiver with a mandatory requirement that the Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment must secure a Document of Understanding (DoU) establishing that this exceptional waiver granted by the President will be the last one to be granted to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and all other Education Sector Unions.
This approval is coming just a year after the union called off its 8 months industrial action on October 17th, 2022. The ASUU leadership lost a challenge in court to compel the federal government to pay them their salary arrears for the duration of the strike they embarked upon in 2022.