Baskadia

A lawsuit was brought against President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.) for the protracted Academic Staff Union of Universities strike by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and five college students.

SERAP and the students are asking the court in their petition to "declare unconstitutional" the federal government's failure to meet ASUU's requests, which has generated the protracted strike action and infringed on the students' entitlement to excellent education.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Ministers of Labor, Employment, and Productivity, Chris Ngige, and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.

The lawsuit was brought because it appeared that the federal government was not willing to implement the agreements with ASUU and put an end to the more than seven-month-old industrial action by the union.

SERAP and the students assert that class interruptions jeopardize the standard and length of students' education. This circumstance has further marginalized parents and students from economically poor backgrounds by escalating existing inequities in access to higher education throughout the nation.

SERAP and the students' legal representative, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, filed a lawsuit on their behalf, which stated in part: "The Federal Government has failed to respect, protect, promote, and fulfill the right to a quality education as well as the right to freedom of association through the concept of collective bargaining."

"Despite the fact that Nigeria has ratified multiple treaties on human rights that guarantee Nigerian students' access to high-quality education, the Federal Government has consistently failed to accede to ASUU's demands and remove the hostile atmosphere for students,"

"Equal access to quality, uninterrupted education for children and young people in Nigeria, even at the university level, will help create citizens who are fundamentally equal and people who actively participate in society.

"SERAP had earlier advised President Buhari to recover the N105.7 billion in stolen public funds and use them in addition to designated portions of the N3.6 billion in travel and feeding expenses for the President and the N134 billion allotted to the National Assembly in the 2022 budget to meet the legitimate demands of ASUU. The right to education is both a right in and of itself and an enabling right. A public good is education