Osun State Government has sued lecturers of the four state-owned Polytechnics and Colleges Of Education to the Industrial Court.
The state government stated that the body, under which the Lecturers operate, the Council Of Academic Staff Unions of Tertiary Institutions (CASUOSTI) is not registered.
The South West Zonal Chapter of the Academic Staff Unions of Polytechnics (ASUP ), however, said that the government over the years, had consulted with the body to take some decisions.
While rising from the Southwest Zonal meeting held in Iree, Osun State, spokesperson for the ASUP, Biola Akinkugbe, said that the court summon served by the Osun State Government is only meant to intimidate the workers, who are demanding for payment of their nine months salaries and other deductions of their emoluments.
But in a swift reaction, counsel to the Osun State Government, Wale Afolabi, said that the government cannot continue to hold talks with the lecturers under the unregistered CASUOSTI, maintaining that the only option opened to the lecturers is to go back to work before any negotiation can commence.
Meanwhile, students of the four state-owned tertiary institutions in Osun State took to the streets protesting the nine months closure of their institutions on October 12.
The students trooped out in large numbers and embarked on a walk to the Osun State House of Assembly and the government secretariat to register their grievances. They also sought to know why the lecturers and the government were yet to resolve the crisis holding back the reopening of their schools.
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