In a bid to reduce the influence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU,the fFederal Government has officially recognised the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), a breakaway faction of ASUU , as an academic union.
CONUA , led by Niyi Summonu parted ways with ASUU over disagreements on some issues in 2018 but yet to be recognised by the government.
Minister of Labour and Employment,Dr Chris Ngige, is believed to have made this known to journalists in his office on Tuesday.
The development 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 failure of the Federal Government to meet agreed demands which included Funding of universities and payment of outstanding entitlements.
Meetings held between representatives of the union and representatives of the government to address the strike had ended without a breakthrough.
The Federal Government using the Ministry of Labour and Employment dragged ASUU to court and on September 21, the national industrial court ordered ASUU to back to the classroom.
The union challenged the decision of the industrial court by filing an appeal seeking a stay of execution of the judgment.
The government also approved the registration of the Nigerian Association of Medical and Dental Academics ( NAMDA) as a trade union.
