The Federal Government on Friday gave an additional sum of N15 billion to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), making it a cumulative sum of N65 billion for the revitalization of the university system and settlement of the controversial Earned Allowances.
This was disclosed after several hours of deliberations between the Federal Government team, led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige and the ASUU, led by its President Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi.
However, the meeting was adjourned till next week Friday for the stakeholders to reach a concrete resolutions.
ASUU insists that the strike will go on until complete resolution of all the issues in contention.
On the issue of highly contentious Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS), ASUU said that that it had carried out a demonstration of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), to all stakeholders and end-users on Thursday 5th November at the National Universities Commission NUC, where some stakeholders raised questions that had been addressed.
Consequently it was agreed that all stakeholders must be carried along in this process to ensure transparency.
In a communique issued at the end of the marathon meeting read: “It was also agreed that the mode of payment applied for the payment of those that had not been captured in the IPPIS platform between the months of February and June 2020 be adopted for the purpose of payment during this transition period.
“On the demand by ASUU for the payment of check-off dues, the Accountant General of the Federation requested that ASUU and other unions should provide his office with the necessary information and dedicated account details in writing to facilitate the deductions and remittance of the check-off dues.”
Recall that the federal Government had earlier offered ASUU N50 billion for Earned Allowances and Revitalisation Fund but had insisted that IPPIS would be the platform for payment, however this was rejected by ASUU and still remains opposed to it.
