The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday jubilated over the federal government’s directive to remove universities and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) payment platform.
The union also called on the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government to resolve all other pending issues that were raised in order to have a university system that would be free from incessant strike actions.
Daily Trust reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday announced exemption of universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payment platform.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this after the federal cabinet meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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BREAKING: FEC exempts varsities, polytechnics, others from IPPIS
Mamman explained that the heads of these institutions also got relief to embark on recruitment exercise without recourse to the Head of Service of the Federation.
Reacting to the announcement in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the development would bring universities back to its track if what 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,” ASUU president told our correspondent in a telephone interview.
According to him, 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 on 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.”
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