The Presidency has refuted reports that President Muhammadu Buhari handed Education Minister Adamu Adamu a two-week deadline to end the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ ongoing strike (ASUU).
On Tuesday, it was reported that President Buhari had given the Minister a deadline to resolve all outstanding concerns and put a stop to the ASUU strike.
According to the sources, the President further ordered that Chris Ngige, the minister of labor and employment, be present at any next meetings to address the situation.
However, the reports were refuted by the Presidency on Wednesday, calling them “an orchestrated media narrative seeking to present an entirely different picture.”
This was announced by the Presidency on its official Twitter account.
“Neither during nor after the meeting was any ultimatum given to the Minister of Education.
“During the meeting, the Minister of Education requested that the Minister of Labour hands off the negotiation to allow him lead and conclude what he had earlier started with ASUU, and he promised that he could get an agreement within the shortest possible time, possibly two to three weeks.
“In carrying out this assignment, the Minister will carry along all relevant ministries & agencies with statutory functions and duties relating to the issues involved,” the tweets read.
In addition, the Presidency asserted that the parties may come to an agreement even sooner than the Minister’s allotted two weeks.
“The Presidency is optimistic that agreements can be reached in an even shorter period if all parties/stakeholders are not unrealistically obstinate.
“We appeal to the parties to work together to end the strikes. On the part of the administration, all doors remain open for dialogue and the resolution of the issues,” it stated.
