The Academic Staff Union of the Nigerian universities (ASUU) has today claimed that the Federal Government is playing a deception and manipulation game with the university industrial action. The claim was made today by the ASUU President, Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi while speaking with Channel Television programme “Sunrise Daily.
According to ASUU, the claim of transition by the government was not true demanding that the government should just go ahead and pay them their eight months salaries of its staff whom they claimed have refused to join the IPPIS.
In his statement, “Government should stop this arm-twisting and manipulation, going back to universities to ask them to go and enroll in (Integrated Personnel and Payroll System) IPPIS so that they will go and migrate to UTAS; people see it as a game of deception and we cannot trust them.”
The academicians have been on a loggerhead with the federal government since 23rd March 2020 for failing to join the IPPIS, the only payment platform that the government said it recognizes.
ASUU refused to heed the Federal Government directive of joining the IPPIS, instead claimed that they would develop their payment platform different from that of the government, a disagreement that has stale the negotiation.
However, ASUU said the government has refused to show commitment instead of resolved to play games with the whole issue. He, therefore, calls on the federal government to show more commitment if it actually means well for Nigerian students to return back to school.
He complained that the platform of the IPPIS as a form of payment was haphazard to the university system and also inconsistency as it excludes many of its members of their salaries.
ASUU also accused the Federal Government of failing to remit its five-months due for its union members between the months of February to June this year deducted check-off dues on its behave but has refused them.
