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The Academic Staff Union of Universities has berated Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State for not paying the salaries of about 65 workers of the Kogi State University, while the state government claimed that it had paid 90 per cent of the university workforce.

The ASUU,  Abuja Zone, which held a briefing on Monday, said through its Zonal Chairman, Dr. Theophilus Lagi, that the decision of the government to also proscribe the union in the state university was “illegal and anti-democratic.”

Our correspondent learnt that a group, the Kogi Elders Forum, had tried to mediate between the academic staff in the state university and the government, but it had yet to yield any results.

According to ASUU, a category of the academic workers employed since June 2015, are still owed about 15 months’ salaries.

The ASUU Chairman, Lagi, said, “We want Nigerians to know that we will not allow Governor Yahaya Bello to mortgage the future of the students of the Kogi State University. The governor has taken actions ranging from illegal proscription, obstruction of meetings and threats to sack academic staff.

“The university is notorious for irregular payment of salaries and allowances. The government claimed it had paid 90 per cent outstanding salaries of the staff of the university, but that claim is far from the truth.

“If the government had engaged the union in dialogue, the issue would have been resolved amicably. We have other state universities that could not pay all salaries too and an agreement was reached. But to proscribe the union is out of it.

“The government should call the affected lecturers and reach an agreement with them. Even if the money is not available now, the approach of the government must not be hostile.”

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