The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that the Federal Government is responsible for the strike by frustrating the negotiation process.
ASUU’s National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi stated this on a Channels Television programme Politics Today.
He mentioned that the Federal Government has delayed in adopting ASUU’s preferred payment platform – University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
According to him, the FGs payment platform Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is not used by any university in the world.
“The strike is still on as a result of the FG not taking the necessary steps. We gave them two weeks to address our five points demands.
“We engaged the government but they were not forthcoming. They had a whole year to address those issues. They gave us positions that were not acceptable to our members.
“During our first meeting, we thought they were almost resolving the issues. What compounded the problem is the issue of IPPIS. We have said that it is a distraction. There is no university in the world that uses IPPIS.
“We have done three presentations of UTAS to the Minister of Education and his team, the leadership of the Senate and Office of the Accountant-General. They only agreed that UTAS is accepted in principles.
“We are almost getting UTAS approved but the government is saying that our members should first migrate to IPPIS before returning to UTAS. That makes no economic sense. The government has made it difficult for smooth negotiation. They said our members will be paid when they move to IPPIS.”
