From Steve Oko, Umuahia
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, has disowned a splinter group known as the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, ASUSS, dismissing it as “a bunch of impostors trying to gain relevance where non exists”.
The teachers’ union which was reacting to a recent Supreme Court ruling which referred the suit by ASUSS against NUT back to the Court of Appeal for retrial, accused ASUSS of misleading the public.
According to NUT, the apex court never granted ASUSS right of existence as “it is falsely claiming”, but simply returned the matter to the Appeal court for retrial since one of the justices on the appeal panel was absent during the earlier judgement of the lower court.
NUT urged teachers and the general public to disregard false claims and propaganda by ASUSS which it dismissed as ” an association of power- drunk secondary school teachers now parading as trade union”.
Eastern Regional Chairman of NUT, Comrade Etim Etim Ukpong, who addressed the press in Umuahia, after the union’s solidarity visit to Abia teachers on strike, claimed that ASUSS was created to cause division in NUT.
He alleged that some mischievous governors and a certain Minister were using the splinter group to whittle down the powers of NUT and make the union too weak to fight for teaxhers’ welfare.
