Contrary to reports, the Senior special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Mr. Garba Shehu has said that there was never a time any ultimatum was given to the Minister of Education to resolve the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike as widely reported in the media.
It will be recalled that some sections of the media had reported that President Muhammadu Buhari had given the Honourable Minister of Education two weeks ultimatum to resolve the ASUU strike.
However, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, Shehu maintained that the outcome of the meeting held by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to end the agitations by university unions ought to be beyond spin-doctoring and conjectures.
He regretted that almost all media houses allowed themselves to be deceived by interested sources that were not the authorized spokesmen of government.
According to him, “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 on started with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (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 and agencies with statutory functions and duties relating to the issues involved.”
He stressed that the Presidency was optimistic that agreements could be reached in an even shorter period if all parties/stakeholders were not unrealistically obstinate.
While appealing to the parties to work together to end the strikes, the Presidential spokesman assured that on the part of the administration, all doors remained open for dialogue and the resolution of the issues.
“We appeal to the media not to spread misinformation. The orchestrated media narratives seeking to present an entirely different picture attributed to sources in the last 24 hours are not helpful at all”, he stated.
Photo: Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President.
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