President Tinubu Breaks the No Work, No Pay Rule for ASUU Members; Pays Four Months of Salary

President Bola Tinubu on Friday approved a partial waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order that was imposed on the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who went on an eight-month strike from February 14, 2022, to October 17, 2022.

The Waiver and Its Conditions

According to a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the waiver “will allow for the previously striking members of ASUU to receive four months of salary accruals out of the eight months of salary which was withheld during the eight-month industrial action undertaken by the union.”

The statement, titled ‘President Tinubu approves partial waiver of the no work, no pay order on ASUU members; orders release of four months of withheld salary’, also stated that Tinubu directed the grant of the waiver with a mandatory requirement that:

• The Federal Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment must secure a Document of Understanding establishing that this exceptional waiver granted by the President will be the last one to be granted to ASUU and all other Education Sector Unions.
• ASUU must abide by the terms and conditions that were agreed upon during the deliberations between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The President’s Rationale

Ngelale said that the president invoked the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy to approve the waiver. He said that the president sought to:

• Mitigate the difficulties being felt during the implementation of key economic reforms in the country”
• “Recognize the faithful implementation of terms which were agreed upon during the deliberations between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria”

He also said that the president hoped that this gesture would “restore normalcy in our universities and foster a conducive environment for teaching and learning.”