By Okeke Eunice
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has disagreed with the Federal Government regarding the reported decision to remove universities from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
An online report, claimed on Monday that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation had confirmed deactivating IPPIS for federal tertiary institutions.
According to the report, Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, explained in an interview that shutting down IPPIS for federal tertiary institutions was a logical step following the government’s directive to exclude these institutions from the system.
However, ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, responded, calling it a misunderstanding of terminology. He clarified that universities are still required to submit their payroll to IPPIS for verification and review.
He stated, “This is unacceptable to us as a union. If you read through the full statement, you’ll see where it mentions that the government still intends to send names to IPPIS for verification before salaries are issued.
“Are you aware of how many institutions there are nationwide? To us, this appears to be an attempt to complicate and control the process, which we cannot accept.”
“This would mean that over 300 institutions across the country would have to send their payroll data to IPPIS for review. Each university should prepare its payroll and pay staff after the budget is approved by the House of Representatives and signed by the President.”
“If they intend to remove us from IPPIS, why should IPPIS still need to verify our salaries?”
ASUU has repeatedly argued that the government’s template would restrict academic professionals, as it lacks provisions for payment of promotion arrears, study leave allowance, or responsibility allowances, among other things.
The union also pointed out that the IPPIS setup is aimed at phasing out lecturers above 60 years, contradicting the new retirement age of 70 for professors, and that imposing IPPIS on university staff violates the University Autonomy Act.
Amid ongoing disputes over IPPIS, the union created the University Transparency and Accountability Solution as an alternative, but it was not adopted by the Federal Government.
Other university unions, like the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, said they had no knowledge of this development when contacted.
Osodeke mentioned that ASUU would soon hold a major meeting with the renegotiation team set up by the Federal Government.
In an interview with a national television, he stated, “There’s no new update at this time. We will meet with the government soon, and afterward, we will inform you whether we plan to strike or not.”
“Until that meeting concludes, we cannot say if the outcome will be positive.
“We are hoping for a favorable outcome, as this will be our first substantial meeting. The last meeting focused only on setting guidelines for renegotiating our 2009 agreement.”