The Federal Government has indicated that the ongoing dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is intricate.
This was stated by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Despite the complexities, he stated that a great deal is being done behind the scenes to resolve the issues.
The minister asserted that the Federal Government is concerned about the protracted issues with the lecturers and will continue to seek an expeditious resolution to the problem.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike since February 14 over a number of issues, including the adoption of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), non-payment of salaries and allowances, and inadequate funding of universities.
As part of moves to end the four-month-old strike, the government and officials of the union continued their negotiations on Monday.
The meeting between the striking lecturers and the Professor Nimi Briggs Committee, however, ended without a concrete agreement as members planned to reconvene within 24 hours to consider a draft agreement.
Talks between both parties were held at the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A senior member of the union, who attended the meeting, told Channels Television that they reached some agreements with the Federal Government but members had to take a break and reconvene within 24 hours to consider the new terms in the draft agreement.
The Federal Government set up the committee led by Professor Briggs on March 7 with a three-month mandate to renegotiate the 2009 ASUU/Federal Government agreement.