The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos State University (ASUU-LASU) has said that it will not endorse or support any political party.
The union has therefore dissociated itself from a planned campaign rally being planned by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) affiliates in Lagos for one of the political parties.
A statement by Dr Isaac Oyewumi, ASUU-LASU chairman and Tony Dansu, Secretary, noted that the union is non-partisan and therefore would not campaign for any party.
Read the statement here:
The attention of our great Union, ASUU-LASU, has been drawn to information circulating on social media that NLC affiliates in Lagos will be holding a campaign rally for one of the political parties. An earlier version of the post had listed ASUU as one of the unions taking part in the campaign and rally.
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Given the non-partisan nature of our Union, this development has agitated some of our members, who now demand a categorical clarification of the position of ASUU-LASU on the conflicting messages, since ASUU is one of the affiliates of the NLC. This is especially at a time when some members of the academic community at the branch level have resorted to opportunistic impersonation of the leadership of the Union to exploit some members of the political class.
For the avoidance of doubt on the part of anyone who may not be familiar with the tenets and workings of our Union, we wish to state unequivocally that ASUU-LASU will not be part of any political rally. We have not received any directive from the leadership of our Union, either through NEC or the Principal Officers to endorse or support any political party. We actually do not expect any. It is not in the tradition of ASUU to play partisan politics.
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It is very obvious to the leadership of the Union, especially at the Branch level, that our members share divergent political views. Some are even politically indifferent. It will therefore be foolhardy for a union of intellectuals of different political temperaments to seek to decimate its own ranks by luring or coercing members into the campaign of any political party.
Exco wishes to encourage members to take advantage of the window opened by INEC for the collection of PVC, to ensure that they collect theirs, and vote for candidates of their choice when the elections come. We wish all the political parties well and hope that they will not only play by the rules of the game for peaceful, free, and fair elections but also fulfill their promises to the people if and when they win.
We admonish those who may be thinking of impersonating the Union at political rallies in the hope of trading the credibility of ASUU for patronage to desist from doing so and urge the security agencies to be on alert.
Members are further urged to continue to reach out to the leadership of the Union at any point in time for clarifications on any issue about which they may feel concerned.
Solidarity forever.
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