The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has reiterated the stand that her members will not enrol on the centralised payroll system of the Federal Government because it invalidates their autonomy.
ASUU President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, said this when he met with the leadership of the National Assembly on a courtesy call with a delegation.
He maintained that global practice of university administration is guided by separation of power and distinct from the civil service structure.
According to Professor Ogunyemi, the introduction of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS, would compound the irregular flow of funds to the university which has suffered a significant setback in the last ten years.
He said that the system is not backed by law and the position of the union is that there are unattended legal issues, negotiated agreements, arising from the nature and peculiarity of Nigerian universities which make the IPPIS unnecessary and inapplicable to the university system.
Professor Ogunyemi intimated the leadership of the Senate that part of its Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government, the ASUU agreement held on February 7, 2019, at the conference room of the Minister of Labour and Employment that the government stated that it was committed to the implementation of the FGN-ASUU 2013 Memorandum of Understanding.
Consequently, the government agreed that it will be releasing the sum of twenty-five billion Naira (N25bn) only in the period of April/May as a sign of good faith.
The Federal Government was to resume full implementation of the MoU following the activation of the recommendations of the report of the Stakeholders Workshop on sustainable funding for Education in Nigeria, 27 – 28 November 2018.
The government was to address the issue of salary shortfall, the fund earned academic allowances for which N20bn was earlier approved to defray part of the outstanding arrears of earned allowances in Nigerian universities.
