The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has directed its branches nationwide to hold Congresses and discuss the outcome of its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Abuja before taking any further necessary steps.

The union which was reacting to enquiries on the outcome come of its meeting held in Abuja said the branches would give notice for congresses where they would be briefed on the outcome of its NEC meeting.

ASUU had announced plans to hold rallies across public Universities to protest what it described as the Federal Government’s failure to prioritise its demands, particularly the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement.

The union had said it would give the government until 28 August to address the demands, after which it would decide on the next line of action, which it hinted could be an industrial action.

The President of ASUU, Prof Christopher Piwuna, in an interview, said the branches would would meet to brief their members on the outcome of the Abuja NEC meeting.

He said: "The meeting was held at the behest of our members. The branch chairpersons left Abuja to their various branches. We will first report the outcome of the meeting to our members across all our branches before making it public. Our members will have a briefing from their chairpersons.

“Our procedure is that once there is a NEC meeting, branch chairpersons will go back and brief their members on the outcome of that meeting. We can only go public after our members have received briefing from our branches.

“In other words, our members cannot find out the outcome of our meeting from press interviews, they will hear it first hand from their branch chairpersons and then the public can know.

“Once our congresses hold, you will know the outcome of our next line of action. Our chairpersons left Abuja, they have to get to their destinations, give notice for congresses and the meeting will be briefed on the outcome of our NEC meeting.”