The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has begun mobilisation of members against the threat by the Accountant General of the Federation to stop salaries of lecturers this January for failing to enroll into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPIS).
To this end, the development may halt academic activities in the Nation’s public University as the union has resolved to activate NO PAY, NO WORK as soon as government stops its members’ salaries.
A circular from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) was sent to all public universities last week Thursday, with information to withhold January salaries of lecturers who refused to enroll in the IPPIS platform.
The Chairman University of Ibadan Chapter of ASUU, Deji Omole, while reacting to the development on Sunday in Ibadan, maintained that the Union was ready to pursue its stand on autonomy and infringement on FGN-ASUU agreement which IPPIS will erode.
Omole, a Professor, stated it was unfortunate that even the President could not be trusted after assuring the Union to look into the matter and set-up committee to harmonised UTAS and IPPIS tabled before him at the last meeting.
According to him, the union will not be threatened to allow an undemocratic public servant like Accountant- General of the Federation to ridicule tertiary education, ASUU said the move would throw public varsities into another crisis.
Omole said ASUU rejected IPPIS on point of law, principle and rule of law, and had offered an alternative platform that has been named University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS ) which would take care of university peculiarities.
“If those ruling us are sincere they should ask their sons and daughters who school in Universities in the UK how Universities run.”
The union said “only patriots can work in our hellish condition. Our position is that the principles of IPPIS are in contradiction to the principles of the autonomy of the university system and the constitution is clear enough because each university has its legal pattern and it doesn’t have provision for IPPIS and it does not even capture the peculiarities of the university system. We are ready for them. We are not slaves that can be subjected to routine humiliation by government appointees “.
