ASUU threatens nationwide strike over IPPIS

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened a nationwide strike if the federal government fails to remit the salaries of its members by the end of October 2019.

Ade Adejumo, ASUU coordinator, Ibadan zone, also reiterated the union’s rejection of the Integrated Payment Personnel Information System (IPPIS) allegedly being forced on its members by the federal government.

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

Speaking with journalists on Sunday, Adejumo accused the government of designing the platform to suppress the masses in the guise of fighting corruption and insisted that the union would go by the matra ‘no pay, no work’ if the issues are not addressed.

The union leader described IPPIS as a strange regime of finance that doesn’t conform to the union’s agreement with the federal government after it had tabled some “infallible reasons” during a previous interaction with its representatives.

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

“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,” he said.

“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.”

The Ibadan Zone of ASUU encompasses the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo state; the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), University of Osun (UNISON) and Kwara State University (KWASU).