The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has lauded the federal government’s decision to exempt universities and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment network on Wednesday.
Asuu also called on the federal government led by President Bola Tinubu to resolve all other outstanding concerns to have a university system free of frequent strike actions.
Chronicle NG reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday announced the exemption of universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and other tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payment platform.
Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, announced a federal cabinet meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa’s Council Chambers in Abuja.
Mamman added that the leaders of these institutions were also permitted to begin recruiting without consulting the Federation’s Head of Service.
Reacting to the announcement in an exclusive interview with reporters, the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, stated that the development would bring universities back on track if what the FEC approved was correct.
“If that is correct, it is a good step in the right direction. We commend the administration for that. That’s what we’re talking about. If that’s correct, we are now coming up as universities gradually.
“This was one of the major reasons we were on strike, which was not attended to, for which our salaries were held,” the ASUU president told our correspondent in a telephone interview.
Osodeke noted that the universities had lost their glory due to that singular act of putting them on the payment platform, calling on Tinubu to also address the issue of punishment meted out to its members while calling for the right things to be done.
Osodeke added, “We are also saying that while correcting those issues, the government should also correct the issue of our members who were punished for asking for the correct things. That is the next step to talk about.
“On this one, this is a good development. We commend the government for listening to our concerns after three years.
“Although that’s not the only issue, there are a lot of issues, but if the government has done this, they should also do other things so that we can have a flawless issue where there will be no strike.”
