Otamere Gladness 
CALABAR, Nigeria – The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Calabar Chapter, has rejected the Federal Government’s proposed 35 per cent salary increase, accusing officials of deliberately delaying the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement.
Speaking on Friday, Chapter Chairman, Dr Peter Ubi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the union would accept nothing short of the full implementation and signing of the draft agreement submitted by the Professor Nimi Briggs-led committee in 2021.
Ubi said the Briggs committee, inaugurated by the government, concluded extensive consultations and produced a document ASUU accepted “in the spirit of compromise”, even though it fell below the union’s revised demand for West African average pay for professors.
“Our surprise now is that the government has refused to sign the outcome of the Briggs-led committee which it initiated,” he said. He described the government’s reluctance as “delay tactics”, stressing that ASUU’s position remained unchanged.
He added that the 35 per cent pay rise proposed by the government “deviates completely” from the committee’s recommendations and that the union rejects it outright. Ubi urged the government to sign and implement the Briggs report without further delay.
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Hussaini Ibrahim 
Oluwatobi Adu