ASUU Threatens Strike over IPPIS

Ololade Adeyanju/

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over adoption of the Integrated Payment Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by the federal government.

ASUU coordinator for Ibadan Zone, Ade Adejumo, told journalists yesterday that the union would resist attempts by the federal government to foist the IPPIS on its members.

He said the union would not hesitate to embark on a nationwide strike if the federal government fails to remit the salaries of its members by the end of this month.

President Muhammadu Buhari, while issuing the directive for the implementation of the IPPIS to manage the payment of salaries of all federal government workers, had directed that anyone not registered on the platform will not be paid as from October 31.

Adejumo however accused the government of designing the platform to suppress the masses in the guise of fighting corruption and insisted that the union would adopt a ‘no pay, no work’ position if the issues it raised are not addressed.

He observed that the IPPIS violated the provisions of the law and the union was displeased that the government was disregarding the constitutional power vested in the university councils with regard to the dispensation of the finances of universities.

His words: “The government has not only rolled out its propaganda machines against our union but is also planning to ambush the union and force our members into this ill-informed platform.

“These ominous signs have made it expedient for ASUU, as a responsible union of intellectuals, to puncture the lies sold to the public by the government, particularly the office of the accountant-general of the federation so that members of the public can better be informed about our position.

“The government, conceding that the university is peculiar and different from the civil service, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government, agreed to the autonomy of universities in Nigeria and signed into law the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment Act) in 2003.

“For emphasis, therefore, we now present detailed perspectives of our union’s rejection of the IPPIS to discerning members of the public. We have cited these laws to expose the mischief or ignorance of the accountant-general of the Federation in his reckless statement that by opposing IPPIS, our union endorses corruption.”

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