ASUU insists on UTAS, rejects IPPIS

Muhammadu Buhari

Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities, ASUU, on Monday declared its opposition against enrollment of its members for Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, by the federal government.

Rather, the dons insisted on their preference for the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS, for the payment of their salaries.

President Muhammadu Buhari had during the presentation of N13.08trillion 2021 budget to the joint session of National Assembly, last week, informed that only federal government staff members on the IPPIS would receive salaries for next year.

Speaking with journalists after about three hours interface with the leadership of the Senate in Abuja, National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said “as patriotic, innovative and creative Nigerians, ASUU developed an home grown platform that should be used by the federal government to effect transparency and accountability in the process of payments of lecturers’ emoluments.”

The alternative platform, according to him, is University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS, which he said has been explained to the government as a mechanism far, far better than imported IPPIS.

“As promoters of local content and firm believer in concepts and ideas directly responsive to prevailing peculiarities, on UTAS we stand and not ready to move an inch towards the direction of IPPIS which is imported and not responsive to the peculiarities involved in lecturers’ emoluments,” he stressed.

Though Ogunyemi was happy that the interface between ASUU and Senate leadership was helped in bringing up the issues towards addressing them, he informed that concrete solution is yet to be achieved, the very reason the meeting is slated for another day.

Earlier in his submissions before the Senate leadership, the ASUU boss, said they have been kicking against implementation of IPPIS for universities lecturers since 2013 to the point of almost reaching agreement with government in 2015.

Aside the issue of IPPIS, he said none implementation of agreements government signed with it since 2009, were also part of the reasons, they have been on strike for the past eight months.

“We are here in furtherance of our previous interaction and today we hope to share with you as you requested the last time we were here the product of our invention which is an alternative to the IPPIS.

“We are also here to solicit your support on the need for government to urgently address the outstanding issue concerning our demands,” he said.

Responding, the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan called on both ASUU and Federal Government to shift ground for the sake of students who have been home since February this year when the union embarked on strike against implementation of IPPIS.