The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has stated that the union’s acceptance of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) as its payment platform was temporary.
This was disclosed by the President of the union, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, during a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday.
Osodeke added that ASUU suspended its eight-month strike based on trust rather than signing an agreement with the government.
Part of the key issues of contention for the strike was the payment platform. ASUU developed University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as its preferred platform.
However, the locally developed system was not accepted by government despite several integrity tests.
Recall that the Appeal Court had supported the order of the National Industrial Court, for the union to suspend its strike.
But before the judgment of the court, the House had reached some agreements with the union on behalf of the federal government.
Osodeke said, “The strike we called off, our members did it based on trust in us and the way the speaker has intervened—three meetings now—it was on that basis we were able to convince them.
See Also: Strike: ASUU Appeals Against NIC Judgment
“What we agreed on the issue of IPPIS and UTAS is a temporary measure. We were challenged to do it. We had to spend our money and our resources. In 2020, we were challenged to produce it.”
In his response, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said there is no place for written agreement since trust was the basis of their engagement.
The Speaker cited the provision of N470 billion in the 2023 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari as a show of commitment on the part of government.
He also noted that the government had shown resolve to implement agreements reached with the union by convening the meeting as part of efforts to integrate the peculiarities of UTAS into IPPIS.
According to Gbajabiamila, the House will host an education summit to look into key challenges confronting the sector.
Also speaking, the acting Accountant General of the Federation, Okolieaboh Sylva said the government is compiling the peculiarities of ASUU in order to amend the IPPIS accordingly.
Source: Daily Post
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