The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alleged that the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) has been stalling and retarding the resolution of the crisis between it and the Federal Government.
According to the union, the AGF has continued to insist that its members must enrol into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) before the payment of their withheld salaries or any subsequent payment.
The ASUU Zonal Coordinator, Bauchi Zone, Professor Lawan Abubakar, stated this on Wednesday during a press conference on the ongoing industrial action by the union.
Abubakar recalled that the union had declared a warning strike after a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at Enugu State University of Technology on Monday, March 9, 2020, which led to a total comprehensive and indefinite strike after a NEC meeting at UNIAbuja on Monday March 23, 2020.
It added that the decision was taken to encourage government to implement the February 7, 2019 federal government and ASUU Memorandum of Action, the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding and the 2009 Federal Government and ASUU agreement, directed towards saving the Nigerian public university system.
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“In February 2020, the Federal Government, through the Accountant General of the Federation, stopped the salaries of ASUU members, citing non-enrolment into the IPPIS platform. Since then, our members are being owed between four to eight months salaries, after a mischievous and erroneous attempt to pay.
“Why has government continued to renege on the agreements, MOUs and MOAs? The answer to this question are simple and clear, which include the intention of government to commercialise and privatise university education, abdication of responsibility of government officials and people in government positions do not have any stake in public universities in the country as their children and family relations are in universities, outside the country.
“How were we paid before the IPPIS? How were some of us, that were picked at random, paid salaries recently? How were our members in University of Abuja paid their January Salary shortfall last week?
“We are not enrolling on IPPIS. The AGF should understand that our searchlight are currently on him and that we are going to take on him, past, present and future. He is hereby warned to stop wasting People’s time henceforth,” he said
While calling on the Federal Government to save the students and parents by implementing the agreements it entered into with ASUU, Professor Abubakar called on union members to continue to persevere and remain resolute, saying that strike had always been the last option after series of written and physical engagements with government without being heard.
