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Tag: IPPIS

  • Strike: ASUU opens up on what’s next after negotiations with FG

    Strike: ASUU opens up on what’s next after negotiations with FG

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said it would now consult with its council to make their final intention known if the strike would be suspended or not.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports ASUU made this known on Friday following negotiations between the federal government (FG) and the Union.

    The government agreed to use the old platform before Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System.

    The government agreed to pay the striking lecturers all withheld salaries through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System) until ASUU’s University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) was ready for usage.

    On revitalization, the government offered N15 billion in addition to the N20 billion pledged earlier.

    “ASUU would now consult with its council and then get back to the government in a short while, to make their final intention known; if the strike will be suspended or not,” the Union tweeted.

    At the end of the seven-hour meeting, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige told reporters that the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) has offered to release N40 billion or in the alternative, N35 billion to be shared by all the registered Trade Unions in the universities after providing necessary evidence of having earned the allowance.

    “The FG reiterated that her offer of N40 billion or 35 billion whichever is accepted by ASUU was for all the universities unions: ASUU had proposed that N40 billion be paid immediately for all unions,” the Minister said.

    Ngige said all vice-chancellors are to submit details of the EAA/EA to the National Universities Commission (NUC) on or before November 30.

    Speaking on the issue of withheld salaries, Ngige said the Federal Ministry of Labour and Federal Ministry of Education will review the issue of “no work, no pay” as stipulated in Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act Cap T8 laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 with a view to getting approval for the withheld salaries to be paid.

  • BREAKING: FG bows to pressure, exempts ASUU from IPPIS, offers N65bn to end strike

    BREAKING: FG bows to pressure, exempts ASUU from IPPIS, offers N65bn to end strike

    The Federal Government on Friday offered leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities N65 billion for Earned Academic Allowance and revitalisation.

    The government also agreed to pay the striking lecturers through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System) until ASUU’s University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) was ready for usage.

    These are some of the agreements reached at the resumed meeting between the leadership of ASUU and the federal government team on Friday.

    At the end of the seven- hour meeting, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige told reporters that the Accountant-General of the Federation ( AGF) has offered to release N40 billion or in the alternative, N35 billion to be shared by all the registered Trade Unions in the universities after providing necessary evidence of having earned the allowance.

    “The FG reiterated that her offer of N40 billion or 35 billion whichever is accepted by ASUU was for all the universities unions: ASUU had proposed that N40 billion be paid immediately for all unions ,” the Minister said.

    Ngige said all vice-chancellors are to submit details of the EAA/EA to the National Universities Commission (NUC) on or before November 30.

    Speaking on the issue of withheld salaries, Ngige said the Federal Ministry of Labour and Federal Ministry of Education will review the issue of “no work, no pay” as stipulated in Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act Cap T8 laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004 with a view to getting approval for the withheld salaries to be paid.

     

    Details shortly…

  • No hope in sight to ending strike – ASUU

    No hope in sight to ending strike – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), says there is no hope in sight to suspend its lingering strike due to alleged lack of commitment by the Federal Government.

    Prof. Theophilus Lagi, the ASUU, Abuja Zonal Coordinator, disclosed this at a news conference on Tuesday at Gwagwalada, Abuja.

    ASUU, Abuja Zone, comprises the Federal University of Technology, Minna; Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Ibrahim Babangida University, Lapai; Federal University of Lafia, and University of Abuja.

    Lagi said the strike had lingered for several months as the government had yet to show any serious commitment or willingness towards addressing the unions core demands for students to resume studies.

    According to him, members of the union have been advised to seek other legitimate means of survival as the government has not released salaries withheld since February, 2020.

    “Today, we wish to let Nigerians especially our students and parents know that there is no hope in sight to ending or suspending the ASUU strike that lingered for long.

    “Government is yet to show serious commitment towards addressing our core demands.

    “One needs not to be a psychologist to understand the behavior and recent utterances of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, by showing his disdain for Nigerian Academics and has failed to play the role of an unbiased umpire in moderating the imbroglio.

    “He has now become the spokesperson to the accountant General of the Federation and Ministry of finance, instead of finding solution for lecturers to get back to work.

    “He is turning the wheel of progress backwards by setting ASUU on collision with other pressure groups in the University.

    “In the past few weeks for instance, Ngige has said one thing when he met with the Union and a different thing on the same subject in an interview with the media.

    “This double character of a Minister and a purported negotiator in the face-off should be a source of worry to not only Nigerian students but parents who patronise public universities.

    “On this, we will like to educate the honourable Minister that public universities in Nigeria are creatures of law as each University is established by an Act enacted by the National Assembly,” he said.

    Lagi maintained that in spite of agitations with comprehensive and indefinite strike to compel the federal government to address its core demands, government had not shown any commitment.

    He however, called on the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, payment and mainstreaming of earned academic allowances into salaries, release of funds for revitalisation of the Nigerian university system among others.

    The coordinator condemned the event at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) where the authority allegedly invited the military to assist in the conduct of the 2019/2020 first semester examinations.

    “Another bizarre turn of event is unfolding at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, where a letter written by the Ag. Registrar, Barr. T. M Ikpenwa on 12th November, 2020 inviting the 103 Batalion of the Nigerian Army to assist in the organisation and conduct of the 2019/2020 First semester Examinations.

    “Such involvement of the military crack team in a normal University function is primitive and height of insult and lack of regard to the Academia in Nigeria.

    “The union wishes to call on the authorities at ESUT to refrain from the ugly trend because we do not want a repeat of 1976 in Nigerian universities,” he said.

    He described the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as better suited in the University system, as it recognised all agreements entered into between government and university based trade Unions.

    Ladi noted that the UTAS platform ensured simultaneous payments of employees salaries and third party deductions like tax, pension, Union dues, cooperatives and bank loans.

  • ASUU strike: Only one issue left – FG

    ASUU strike: Only one issue left – FG

    The federal government has said there is only one issue left on the negotiation table for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off strike.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono made this known while speaking with newsmen on Sunday.

    He made this known in Abuja after monitoring the Professional Qualifying Examination organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.

    He described the protracted ASUU strike as unnecessary and assured that the impasse between the Union and the FB would soon be over.

    “The government is working very closely. We are very concerned and the President is very concerned about this protracted strike, which, to so many of us, is unnecessary. We believe there are other ways of getting things done.

    “There’s a shared acceptance of so many of the issues and we are at a point that very quickly and soon, it will be resolved. There’s only one issue in contention, really. The other issues have either been resolved or there have been some kind of compromise that worked out.

    “We believe that reason will prevail and the overall national interest will be the guiding principle in coming to a quick resolution. I can assure you that work is going on assiduously in this.

    “Only two days ago, the ASUU executives were at the Ministry to meet with the Minister for certain consultations and we felt we needed to tell them exactly what our positions are.

    “We will look at the overall interest of the Nigerian people. We know that we also operate in a context of government playing out different segments even in the University setting.

    “We have four different unions making demands and we have to balance this. We understand the peculiarities of ASUU and we believe the members are patriotic enough to know when to call it quits and what to call a compromise.”

    TNG reports ASUU embarked on the prevailing strike that has kept students long at home on March 24, 2020.

    The indefinite strike is over the failure of the FG to fulfil a 2019 agreement and a lingering disagreement over the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and other factors.

  • ASUU gives reasons why strike lingers

    ASUU gives reasons why strike lingers

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it is seeking swift completion of its ongoing renegotiations with the Federal Government to suspend the lingering industrial action.

    Prof. Ade Adejumo, the Zonal Coordinator, Ibadan Zone of ASUU, stated this at a press conference in Ibadan on Wednesday.

    ASUU embarked on the industrial action seven months ago which is premised on the union’s refusal to adopt the Federal Government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    Adejumo, who was represented at the conference by Prof. Moyo Ajao, the Chairperson, ASUU, University of Ilorin Chapter, said the union was forced to go on strike in March 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdown began.

    He said this was done to give the government enough room to address lingering issues.

    “It was a patriotic act aimed at resolving the issues so that our students would be in school any time the lockdown was lifted.

    “Some people have been wondering why ASUU is on strike again. The simple answer is that ASUU is on strike because of the survival of the University system where many of us still have our children as students.

    “ASUU is on strike in order to restore the past glory of public universities and address infrastructural decay and deficit in our institutions.

    “ASUU is on strike for the legitimate dues of its members who are the least paid in the tertiary education sub-sector,” he said.

    According to him, ASUU is actually tired of having a circus show of talks but in the interest of the students and the Nigerians at large, we still continue to hold meetings upon meetings.

    “At this stage of the struggle, Nigerians are urged to compel the government to release withheld salaries of our members, remit check-off dues of the union to the rightful owner.

    “Government should also speed up the process of testing the integrity of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) so that it can be deployed for payment beginning from January 2021.

    “We are ready to suspend the strike as our children too are tired of staying at home but we cannot work on empty stomachs.”

    Adejumo said the interest of Nigeria and the future generations was more paramount to ASUU than the immediate gains of its members.

    “That is why ASUU has been consistent in challenging the rot in the system through sustained engagements with the powers that be since the time of the military.

    “The gains of ASUU struggles are in the changes that TETFund has been able to bring to the tertiary education sector in the country, and ASUU will not relent in pushing for a better university system in the country.

    The union said the government agreed to inject funds to revitalise the country’s universities in 2019, adding that however, it was still waiting for the fulfillment of the agreement.

  • We have been rejecting IPPIS since 2013, says ASUU

    We have been rejecting IPPIS since 2013, says ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday said that its members have been rejecting to migrate to the Integrated Personal Payroll Information System (IPPIS) since 2013.

    Dr Aniekan Brown, Coordinator, ASUU Calabar Zone, disclosed this during a press conference in Calabar.

    Brown recalled that on March 23 ASUU declared an industrial action against the government for not adhering to their demands.

    “For the records, we consider the IPPIS, which is a payment system as uncongenial with the modus operandi of the university system, given the peculiarities of universities. Government has made it a front burner; but we consider it a distraction.

    “The mode of employment, retirement age, sabbatical leave, adjunct engagements, part-time engagements, contract engagements and others are concepts that are unique to the university, and obviously alien to IPPIS,” he added.

    According to him, on the revitalisation of public universities, the government was in debt to the tune of N20 billion short of N1.1 trillion, adding that some lecturers were owed up to nine months salary arrears for their stand against IPPIS.

    “On Earned Academic Allowances, N40 billion in the immediate run. This figure is as up to 2013. The figures for 2014-2020 are yet to be considered.

    “For proliferation and funding of state universities, we insist that visitors to state universities should stand up to their responsibilities.

    “For visitation panels, these have not been realised in the last 10 years. Yet, this is the very tradition of the university system,” he said.

    He further said that it was 11 years since the Union’s Conditions of Service was reviewed, adding that it was due for a review in 2012.

    The Zonal Coordinator said that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federal (OAGoF) has not done enough in addressing the peculiarities.

    “Unfortunately, our Union had a number of meetings with the OAGoF and for all that the meetings are worth, they were opportunities to convince ASUU that the IPPIS is capable of addressing the concerns of our Union.

    “Kindly note that our Union has been rejecting the IPPIS since 2013. Government challenged us to produce an alternative.

    “The Union took up the challenge, and has produced one. This is called the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

    “Presentations have been made to the appreciation of some quarters. The Union has been ready for the final stage presentation to the National Information Technology Development Agency,” he said.

    He said that the OAGoF was of the position that ASUU members migrate first during the intervening period, after which if UTAS is approved, they would be re-migrated to UTAS.

    He said that the union had argued that this process was cumbersome and an economic waste to the Nation.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Universities under the Calabar Zone include, Abia State University, Akwa Ibom State University and the Cross River University of Technology.

    Others members in the zone are Alex Ekwueme University Ndufo Alike, University of Uyo and the University of Calabar.

  • JUST IN: FG caves in to ASUU request on UTAS

    JUST IN: FG caves in to ASUU request on UTAS

    The Federal Government (FG) on Tuesday said it might consider adoption of the University Transparency Account System (UTAS) presented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    UTAS, proposed by ASUU to the Federal Government, is an alternative emoluments payment platform to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    The Labour Minister, Sen. Chris Ngige, said this while addressing newsmen after about two and half hours closed door meeting with the leaderships of the Senate and ASUU.

    Ngige said that the alternative payment platform presented by ASUU was home grown and worth given thorough assessment test.

    “We agreed at the meeting to give required consideration to the UTAS alternative they came up with as a way of finding lasting solution to the lingering crisis over implementation of IPPIS.

    “We have neither jettisoned the implementation of the IPPIS nor fully accepted UTAS .

    “The level we moved to now is to subject ASUU’s scheme to integrity test and in doing so, it will be presented to users like the office of Accountant General of the Federation on Wednesday.

    “After that, it will be sent to the National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA) and from there to the office of the National Security Adviser for second look.

    “The platform is an option grown device that requires stage by stage consideration and from the looks of things is good,” he said.

    Confirming the head way achieved at the meeting, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TetFund, Sen. Ahmad Baba Kaita, said that the interface had not ended, but a stage of compromise is getting closer between the two parties.

    “The meeting brokered by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, among other stakeholders, achieved a lot today with agreement on the need to subject the UTAS alternative brought forward by ASUU for integrity test by all relevant departments of the government,” he said.

    The ASUU leadership, however, refused to speak to the press after the closed door meeting, but were in good mood apparently due to the government’s decision to consider the alternative platform.

  • FG places embargo on salaries of varsity workers not enrolled on IPPIS

    FG places embargo on salaries of varsity workers not enrolled on IPPIS

    The Federal Government has ordered stoppage of salaries of any university employee who refuses to be captured on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System with effect from November 2020.

    The government gave the directive in its latest memo from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation with reference number OAGF/IPPIS/446/1/159, dated October 8, 2020, and signed by the Director, IPPIS, Nsikak Ben, for the AGF.

    According to reports, the memo was issued to all university vice chancellors through the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigeria, Federal Universities.

    The order read in part, “I am directed to inform you that any staff of your institution who has not enrolled on the IPPIS, either as a result of study leave (with pay), maternity leave or on medical ground, will no longer appear on the IPPIS payroll.

    “This is with effect from November 2020, except such staff presents himself/herself for the biometric data capture at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Abuja.”

    The government said such worker would have to appear with an introductory letter/IPPIS enrolment forms duly endorsed by the principal authorities of the institution.

    It added that all supporting documents should include evidence of six months’ salary, according to bank statements.

    “In view of the above, kindly inform your staff in this category to urgently avail themselves for the biometric data capture at the OAGF,” the government stated in its memo to the vice chancellors.

    It, however, noted that exemption might only be given where institutions provided evidence of study leave.

    The government explained that in such an instance, the institution must state the duration to justify why such persons should be retained on the payroll.

    When contacted for his reaction to the latest memo, the spokesperson for the OAGF, Henshaw Ogubike, confirmed the directive.

    “The letter is from our office,” he said.

    Recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had been locked in a recurring battle with the federal government over enrollment on IPPIS. The union is currently on strike to register its grievances and had also directed all its members nationwide to disregard the No, IPPIS, No Salary directive President Muhammadu Buhari.

  • Buhari to federal workers: No IPPIS, no salaries

    Buhari to federal workers: No IPPIS, no salaries

    President Muhammadu Buhari says only federal workers that have been captured by the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform will continue to receive salaries.

    Buhari said this when he presented the 2021 budget of N13.08trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), currently on industrial action, has vowed never to key into the IPPIS platform, as demanded by the government.

    NAN reports that ASUU had since claimed to have developed an alternative salary platform for University workers.

    ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said that the union’s ongoing strike would continue in spite of government’s decision to reopen schools shutdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

    “We started our industrial action before the outbreak of coronavirus disease in the country.

    “All the issues we raised are yet to be addressed. The government is free to open its schools, just like our members are also entitled to their dues.

    “As we speak, our members are being owed between three to six months of salaries. The government’s so-called fund saving platform, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System is a colossal failure.

    “Apart from that, the government is yet to take any step to revitalise the education sector among others,” he said.

    However, Buhari, who insisted that all federal workers must enrol into the IPPIS platform, said the directive was meant to check fraud including payment of salaries to non-existent personnel as well unauthorised allowances.

    Buhari also directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that they obtain necessary approvals before embarking on fresh recruitment.

    He warned that any breach of the directive would be severely sanctioned.

    Buhari said that the Ministry of Education’s capital allocation had been increased by 65 per cent to improve the education of Nigerian children.

    The president revealed that funds had been provided for the provision of scholarship to Nigerian students at home and abroad.

    “We have provided funds for the upgrade of security and other infrastructure facilities in our Unity Colleges nationwide.

    “To improve access to education, we have made provision for the establishment of five new Federal Science and Technical Colleges.

    “We have also provided for the payment of allowances to 5,000 teachers under the Federal Teachers Scheme,’’ he added.

  • IPPIS controversy: Resign and embrace farming, ASUU bombs Buhari’s Minister

    IPPIS controversy: Resign and embrace farming, ASUU bombs Buhari’s Minister

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday advised the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, to resign and go into farming.

    The Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Prof Ayo Akinwole, stated this in a statement in Ibadan while reacting to the minister’s criticism of the union.

    He said the minister’s criticism showed that he was naïve on education matters.

    The minister had, in an interview on Monday, said the striking lecturers should resort to farming, saying they could not dictate to their employers, how they should be paid.

    He had said, “Government is actually not holding anyone to ransom. It says ‘this is how I want to pay and it has to be through IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System)’ You can leave the employment. You can opt out of it and say ‘I no longer want to teach’. You can find other professions. What we need now are probably more farmers.

    “You cannot keep forcing your employer and tell him, ‘I will like you to pay me my money through my pillow. Or, ‘I will like you to pay it through this mailbox’. ASUU has a lot of complaints and dissipation around

    But Akinyole described Nwajiuba’s statement as a reflection of his shallow understanding of the academic profession and the low premium the current administration placed on education.

    He said the minister of state had “displayed his naivety on educational matters.”

    He added, “If the Minister of State for Education is interested in farming, he should resign his appointment and stop displaying his cluelessness of the problems in the education sector.

    “We are on a just fight to ensure that those in public offices become responsive and responsible to the masses they swore to serve. They must fund public education. We have been on the same salary since 2009. That is no longer sustainable.

    “The universities are being run with personal sweat of lecturers while politicians siphon money for personal aggrandizement. We cannot accept the IPPIS that is against the laws of the land and which fails to recognise the uniqueness of academic profession and culture.

    “We have brought an alternative using our members’ money. People like this minister of state mirror the disdain of ruling class for the workers and people of the country.”

    ASUU had on March 23 begun an indefinite strike to force the Federal Government to implement its agreements with the lecturers and protest against the IPPIS.

    The union on Monday said its members would not call off their strike despite the directive of the Federal Government that all educational institutions should resume on Monday, next week.