Following directives from the Edo state government to state-owned tertiary institutions to suspend all union activities and resume academic and non-academic activities, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has pushed back by filing a lawsuit against the government.

The government had on June 8, 2022, directed higher institutions of learning in the state to implement a “no-work-no-pay policy,” and declare vacant, the position of any staff member that refuses to resume work.

In the lawsuit filed before the National Industrial Court in Benin by the Ambrose Alli University chapter of ASUU, the union urged the court to declare the suspension unconstitutional, illegal, null and void, and beyond the powers of the government.

Defendants in the suit are the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseke, the Edo state government, the Attorney-general, and the Commissioner for Justice.