Strike: Most of ASUU’s demands over overtime allowances, says FG

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku has said that most of the demands by ASUU,
which have kept universities, closed for almost four months now is for unscripted
allowances. Specifically, Maku addressing a team of journalists at a world conference
on Tuesday, at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja, the information minister
noted that the ASUU strike is a backdrop of political events in the country. He urged the
stakeholders in ASUU to understand that the strike is pulling the Educational Sector
down and not helping the issue as they claim. Explaining to journalists further, that
ASUU refused accepting N40 billion out of the N100 billion they requested.
Also speaking on the issue of Ghost workers, Maku noted that the Federal Government
loses an annual amount of N118 billion as allowances drilled out of the Nation’s
treasury for salaries to Ghost workers. He stated however that the Federal Government
has stopped the allowances and will proceed further to make investigations on how they
came to be, with a view to punishing the culprits. The Minister, who noted that the Nation’s economy
was improving at a present rate of 7 per cent annually, with external reserve which has increased from
$32.08 billion in May 2011 to $48.4 billion as of May 2013, he insisted that Nigeria is not broke.
“The nation cannot be said to be drifting backwards, with an improved level of reduction in cost of
governance; recurrent expenditure has dropped from 74.4% of total budget in 2011 to 68.7% in 2013;
therefore that Nigeria is not broke”.
On issue of National conference, Maku said it will not divide the country.