The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government will meet today over the strike action embarked upon by university lecturers.
Charles Akpan, Deputy Director of Press and Public Relations said that Dr Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, will host ASUU for the meeting.
The government has moved to use the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for salary payment but ASUU will have none of it. Instead, they pitch a different payment platform, the University Transparency Account System (UTAS), to the government.
However, ASUU was summoned to a meeting on Tuesday by the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, along with Ngige, Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris and ASUU delegation led by its President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi.
Ngige addressed journalists after the closed-door session saying that the UTAS platform could work and that the demonstration would continue.
Addressing journalists after the three-hour closed session, Ngige said ASUU had shown how the UTAS they developed could work, adding that the demonstration would continue.
“We will involve other government agencies who would also come and assess it. Discussions on it are not foreclosed yet.
“UTAS is a homegrown software. It is what we call local content that Mr President is encouraging. It will be considered by the government,” Ngige said.
