The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s condition of a Document of Understanding (DoU) before paying the withheld salaries of members of the union for the period they were off work as a result of strike.
NAAT’s president, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma, in a statement, described the condition as draconian and appealed to President Tinubu to rescind the decision, even as he noted that members of the union has made up the time lost as a result of the strike through extra work hours.
He said, “It is important to make this press release in view of the recent statement credited to Mr Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Bola Tinubu to the effect that the president has granted a partial waiver to the staff of tertiary institutions, based on the principles of presidential prerogative of mercy, subject to Federal Ministry of Education and that of Labour and Employment developing a Document of Understanding (DoU), before payment of the withheld salaries can be effected, as widely reported by both electronic and print media.
“The attention of the leadership of our union has been drawn to this development which we consider a matter of great concern and worry. While we want to commend the president for his magnanimity in granting the partial waiver, we view the condition of DoU as draconian and undermines our fundamental human rights to freedom of expression and association guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
“Hence, NAAT rejects in its entirety the idea of DoU as a pre-condition for payment of the withheld salaries of our members.
“Furthermore, we use this medium to appeal to Mr President to rescind on his decision and approve unconditional payment of the withheld salaries immediately.
“It must be noted that the work loss as a result of the strike has since been covered through extra work hours and students graduated and are currently undertaking their mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, as a result, nothing has been lost.
“NAAT wishes to call on well-meaning Nigerians to intervene and ensure payment of our withheld salaries in full for a sustainable industrial harmony.”
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