The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Plateau State University, Bokkos’ chapter, says its members will not return to lecture halls without a Memorandum of Agreement with the state government.

Betse Pamson, the ASUU Chairman, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday.

“We are surprised to learn of a statement issued by the vice chancellor of our esteemed university, PLASU, that the institution will soon resume academic activities.

“As far as we as ASUU is concerned, we are not aware of such preparation or arrangement, since most of our demands are yet to be met by the management and the state government.

“Tuesday’s, February 9 meeting we had with the government’s seven-man committee, which was the sixth, didn’t end up well since there wasn’t anything new from our previous positions.

“We won’t return to class without any concrete Memorandum of Agreement. If the management and government want to reopen the university, they should bring something tangible to the table,” the chairman explained.

Mr. Pamson disclosed that the main bone of contention was the Earned Academic Allowance of the lecturers totalling N215 million but claimed that the government agreed to pay only N55 million while in two other tranches, N79.5 million to be paid in February 2022 and another N79.5 million in February 2023.

“We have taken this offer of government to our congress, but it was vehemently rejected, yet the governor is still said to be pleading with us to take the N55 million which is just 25 percent of the arrears. The truth is that our members agreed to take 50 percent of the arrears and that anything short of that they won’t take.

“All the same, we shall consult with our Congress again, as well as get the input of the ASUU National Union before meeting with the seven-man committee, being led by the Head of Service,” Mr. Pamson added.

The university’s Vice Chancellor, Yohana Izam, had announced that the institution would soon reopen for academic activities.

Mr. Izam said as part of preparations for the commencement of the 2020/21 academic session, the university had concluded the renovation of its hostels.

(NAN)