Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Mrs Modupe Mujota, has debunked claims by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Olabisi Onabanjo University chapter, that the State Government owes its members salaries for 16 months.

She said the recent recognition of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as the best state university in Nigeria punctured the notion that the State Government had not done enough to revamp the institution.

In a press statement signed by the sommissioner, the government said it had always met its contractual obligations to the staff of the institution but would not be railroaded into executing a contract it did not enter into with the academic union.

“We state categorically that we do not owe the teachers as alleged. They should provide any evidence of the contractual obligation the state government has breached with regard to their salaries and allowances,” Mrs Mujota said.

On payment of Earned Academic Allowances being demanded by the lecturers, the State Government denied ever entering into any such agreement with the union. It tasked the academic body to provide any proof to the contrary.

“Education,” according to the statement, “remains the first cardinal programme of the Amosun administration. This is the reason why the sector has always received the lion’s share of the state’s annual budget. Government is committed to its policy of regular payment of salary in spite of the current financial challenges across the country.

“Ogun State Government therefore calls for the understanding of the striking lecturers and implores them to return to classes while Government weighs its options. Every citizen and union must be subject to the laws of the land; nobody or institution is above the law.”

•Photo shows Governor Amosun.

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