Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has given the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the state a one-month ultimatum to return to classes or face ‘no work no pay’ treatment from the government.
The governor gave the directive during an expanded caucus meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Makurdi. Ortom said he is not owing ASUU and so, they shouldn’t be on strike. “Why would they be collecting salaries and at the same time allowing the students and parents to suffer in the name of solidarity strike? enough is enough,” the governor said.
He told the striking workers to reconsider their decision for the sympathy strike for the sake of the students since the State Government is not owing them.
“I am not owing ASUU, they are being place on first line charge, every Month, N6 million is being released to the University for the payment of salaries alone why would they embark on solidarity strike for a long time without looking back, I know the kind of difficulties this has placed on the parents,” he said.
In a swift reaction, the state chairman of ASUU Dr Kwaghfan Tarnongu said ASUU expects better things from the visitor of the university, governor Ortom whom he said is owing them June salary.
Tarnongu said: “We all know that the Union of this chapter is the same with other states and federal and we are benefitting from the struggle too, even if the strike is called off today, we have our own local issues which we have raised and the governor is also aware of these issues. So, if he says he is not owing the university salaries, I want to ask if he has paid the June salary?
“So for him to give a one-month ultimatum, that is not what we expect to hear from him because we are discussing our own local issues. I would have thought he would have been more understanding than to be that militant. In fact, I’m disappointed if that came from him.”
Governor Ortom insisted that the 2023 general election is a mere exercise in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is waiting to clear all the elective positions in Benue state.
According to him, “the party held its primaries devoid of crisis unlike other political parties especially APC, boasting that having three senators, twenty six members of the state House of assembly, House of Representatives, Council chairmen and Councillors, PDP will win a landslide in next year’s general election in the state.
He commended party stakeholders for their support and pledged to remain committed in delivering dividends of democracy to people of the state in the last lap of his administration.
Earlier, the State chairman of the PDP, Sir John Ngbede who is also the deputy governorship candidate, thanked the party for finding him worthy for the position even as he disclosed that the caucus meeting is the last meeting for his tenure.
