New faction may takeover as ASUU, FG war lingers

The federal government has weakened the strength of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) following the registration of a factional union.

The Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), a breakaway faction of ASUU, may now call the shots as it has been handed certificate of registration.

Minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, presented the certificate of registration to the faction on Tuesday.

The move is believed to be an attempt to reduce the influence of ASUU amid its lingering strike that have grounded academic activities in Nigerian universities for over seven months.

It also comes weeks after the government threatened to withdraw ASUU’s registration licence for allegedly not submitting its audited financial returns for over five years.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14 over alleged refusal of the federal government to meet its demands.

Several meetings held between representatives of the union and the government to address the strike did not yield any result.