ASUU may have again extended its strike on Monday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The decision to again extend the strike for the fourth time was taken after the union’s National Executive Council met at its headquarters at the University of Abuja.

The union embarked on the strike on Feb. 14 demanding for a renegotiation of agreements reached between it and the government in 2009.

The university teachers are seeking improved welfare, the revitalisation of public universities, and academic autonomy among others. Several meetings between government representatives and ASUU have ended in deadlock. One such was held about two weeks ago with the Professor Nimi Briggs Committee at the National University Commission (NUC) in Abuja.

According to Channels Television, a senior member of ASUU said that the Briggs Renegotiation Committee did not come up with a new deal. The anonymous source said the committee had pleaded with the union to suspend the strike and promised that their concerns will be included in next year’s budget.

ASUU is also demanding that government should shelve the payment of members’ salaries using its Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) through which it pays its employees. It is asking government to instead adopt the union’s payment platform option, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

Since the industrial dispute, several groups and individuals have waded into the matter. The latest is human rights lawyer Femi Falana who asked the Federal Government to sign the renegotiated agreement with the striking workers.

“Instead of engaging in the diversionary tactics of blackmailing ASUU the Federal Government should ensure that the strike is called off by signing the Renegotiated Agreement with ASUU without any further delay,” Falana said in a statement he issued on Sunday.

“While calling on both sides to resume the negotiations in the interest of the country the Federal Government should be prevailed upon to end the prolonged industrial action.”

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goong, told newsmen that government had taken all possible steps to end the strike.

“Government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonise the IPPIS, UTAS, and UP3, a salary payment platform introduced by another union within the university system.

“This will ensure that the government will pay with only one payment platform that will harmonise all the technical peculiarities.

“If you bring some demands and almost 80 percent have been attended to, there is no need to drag the strike anymore.

“It is unreasonable for the strike to be lingering seeing that government has worked toward meeting most of the demands,’’ Goong said.