Lawyer sues ASUU and Education Minister for salary earned during strike

The last may not have been heard about the five-month-old strike embarked upon last year by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Mr Frank Tietie, has asked the National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja to compel the university lecturers to refund the five months salaries paid to them by the federal government while they were on strike.

In the suit he filed Tuesday, Tietie said the lecturers were paid in violation of Trade Disputes Act.

He listed the Minister of Education, the ASUU, National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Salaries and Wages Commission as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively.

The lawyer asked the court to determine whether an agreement by the federal government and ASUU can vitiate, nullify and make void the express statutory provisions of section 43 (1) (a) of the Trade Disputes Act Cap. T8 Laws of the Federation 2004

Similarly, he asked the court to determine whether the members of ASUU were entitled to be paid the arrears of their salaries for the period of time that they had been on strike?

Consequently, he asked the court to declare that the strike undertaken by members of ASUU was illegal, without basis in law and contrary to provisions of the Trade Disputes Act.

Tietie also asked the court to declare that members of ASUU were not entitled to be paid for the period of the strike which contradicted the provisions of the Trade Disputes Act.

He asked the court for a declaration that: "the payment of the salary arrears by the federal government to the members of ASUU was illegal, contrary to law and amounted to a misappropriation of the national common wealth and collective resources of Nigerians."

He asked the court to make an order directing the federal government to take steps in ensuring the retrieval by deduction of the salary arrears paid to the ASUU members being unlawful and wrongful payments to members of ASUU for the period of time they went on strike.

Lastly, Tietie asked the court to direct the Minister of Education to instruct and direct all other relevant agencies and institutions of government to ensure that the five months salary arrears paid to the members of ASUU be retrieved and deducted accordingly from their salaries being unlawful and wrongful payments for the period of time they had gone on strike.

The lawyer is right - "no work, no pay", but am of the opinion ASUU/strike matter should be laid to rest for the sake of the helpless student who bears the brunt!