Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to pay members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), their full salaries.
This is as he called on the President to overrule the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige over the decision to pay the ASUU members half of their expected monthly salaries for October.
The senior lawyer said the decision taken by the federal government is not only discriminatory but illegal.
It will be recalled that the ASUU members called off their strike which had been on since February 14 on October 14, 2022. 
However, the lecturers were paid for only half of the month of October, sparking various reactions and threats of another strike.
Explaining the decision behind the payment, the federal government through the Ministry of Labour said the lecturers can’t be paid for the period they didn’t work, adding that their salaries were pro-rated based on the period worked in the month of October.
ASUU has scheduled a meeting to decide on the official next line of action.
Reacting to the development, Falana who is the legal representative for ASUU said the action of the government is illegal and discriminatory.
He argued that the government in a similar situation had paid members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) for the period not worked after the Doctors called off their strike.
He, therefore, said what is good for the goose, should be good for the gander as well and urged President Buhari to intervene and ensure the full payment of the ASUU members.
Falana added that the lecturers have already mapped out strategies to ensure the period and activities missed due to the strike are covered,
He said; “The position of the federal government is factually faulty and legally misleading.
“Since the industrial action was called off, the public universities have adjusted their calendars to ensure that the 2021/2022 academic session is not cancelled. Consequently, students are currently taking lectures or writing examinations that were disrupted during the strike of the ASUU.
“Therefore, having regard to the facts and circumstances of the ASUU strike the doctrine of ‘no work, no pay’ is totally inapplicable as students who were not taught during the strike are currently attending lectures and writing examinations.
“Furthermore, it is public knowledge that the members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) embarked on a strike that lasted two months last year. The federal government dragged the striking doctors to the national industrial court which ordered the NARD to call off the strike. As soon as the strike was called off, President Muhammadu Buhari jettisoned the ‘no work, no pay’ principle and ordered the payment of the salaries for the two months that the strike lasted.
“On that occasion, the President overruled Dr. Ngige in the interest of industrial harmony in the health sector.
“In the same vein, the ASUU recently called off its 8-month-old strike in compliance with the order of the national industrial court and the court of appeal. We are therefore compelled to call on President Buhari should ignore the advice of Dr. Ngige and direct the public universities to pay the full salary of each lecturer from February to October 2022.”
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