As Nigerians continue to struggle with the high rate of inflation, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has called on President Bola Tinubu to be more decisive and prosecute everyone involved in the “fuel subsidy scam” or immediately revert to the price of petroleum products before his swearing-in on 29th May 2023.

This was contained in a communiqué reached at the end of NASU’s delegate conference which returned Makolo Hassan and Prince Peters Adeyemi as National President and General Secretary of the union respectively, as a result of their “dedicated commitment and sterling performance.”

The communiqué which was made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja, noted that

successive governments had argued that the amount paid for petroleum by Nigerians was lower than international benchmarks because the Federal Government was subsidising the product.

While expressing disappointment in immediate past and present Federal Governments that claimed fuel subsidy was a scam failed to mention the prosecution of those involved in the scam, NASU maintained it was convinced there were several laws for the prosecution of criminals, which the immediate past and present Federal Governments used and are using to prosecute petty criminals, yet they have failed to use them to prosecute known fuel subsidy criminals.

It reads partly: “Be it resolved that Conference-in-Session calls on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, prosecute all those involved in this economic sabotage against the nation.

“To restore the price of petroleum products to the pre-29 May 2023 prices if it fails to prosecute all those involved in the subsidy scam.

“To ensure that the money released for the repairs of local refineries do not go down the drain as was the case of previous attempts, by seeing into it that the refineries work in line with their installed capacities,” it said.

NASU also called on the Federal Government to make sure anyone with pending corruption cases in the country is prosecuted, as well as all those involved in the incessant fraudulent activities in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) policy of the government.

While noting that the sharp practices by officials and staff of IPPIS as well as their lackadaisical attitudes have made a mess of whatever good intentions the Government had for introducing IPPIS, the union said it was important for the government to rejig the IPPIS platform towards ensuring transparency of the platform in payment of salaries allowances and third party deductions.

Regretting what it termed “indiscriminate establishment of tertiary institutions by the National and State Assemblies in the face of inadequate funding of the institutions,

NASU expressed worry that should the trend persist, the gains of having qualitative tertiary institutions in the country would be eroded.

“Be it resolved that the Conference-in-Session: calls on the National and State Assemblies to immediately discontinue the passing of bills for the establishment of tertiary institutions that may not be adequately funded.

“Calls on the Federal and State Governments, to put an end to indiscriminate establishment of tertiary institutions at the expense of the growth and development of the existing ones,” it added.

Commenting on the renegotiation of the FGN/NASU agreements on tertiary institutions, the union called on the Federal Government to “reconstitute re-negotiating committees across tertiary institutions where negotiations had remained inconclusive during the tenure of the immediate past administration;

“Calls on the Federal Government to implement all agreements entered into with NASU across tertiary institutions to ensure industrial peace and harmony in the sectors.” (New Telegraph)