IPPIS: FG out to cripple university system, ASUU alleges
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Thursday, described the federal and state governments’ insistence and forceful application of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) on its members as a deliberate ploy to cripple the Nigerian University system.
Benin Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Prof. Fred Esumeh, in statement in Benin City, the Edo State capital, said the federal and state government’s insistence and forceful application of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) on members is a deliberate ploy to cripple the Nigerian University system.
Esumeh, who blamed the strike on the Federal Government forceful application of IPPIS and refusal to implement the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreements and the 2013 Memorandum of Association (MoU) the government voluntarily entered with the Union and other demands which were aimed at addressing the rot in the country’s education system, urged the government to revisit the issues and embrace the proposed University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) developed by ASUU members to pave the way for the smooth running of public universities in Nigeria.
He added that the irregularities experienced by affiliate unions in Nigerian Universities like SAANU, NAAT, and NASU members in the payment of February 2020 salaries who enrolled on the IPPIS, have lent credence to ASUU’s position that “IPPIS has failed all forms of integrity test, as the platform or software for the payment of University workers”.
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“Consequently, the Zone views government’s insistence and forceful application of IPPIS, even when the Union is in discussion with Government representatives, as a deliberate ploy to cripple the Nigerian University system. The Zone calls on Government to stop the war strategy of starvation by paying our members salaries.
“Some of our members who went to enrol on IPPIS have started running to us for help. There was a case when a Vice Chancellor who enrolled on IPPIS was paid N57,000 as his monthly salary instead of over a million Naira.
“The indefinite strike is against our students or the parents, but, it is to compel the Federal Government to do the needful by providing a decent learning environment and improve the quality of Nigerian graduates.” he said.
