•Says union can’t dictate mode of salary payment
It was tough yesterday as federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) disagree over mode of salary payment.
Federal Government dismissed the union’s concern about putting lecturers on the centralised salary payment platform.
Reacting to the union’s objection to President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that federal government workers not on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) would not be paid salaries, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ahmed Idris, fired back, saying that the union is not in a position to dictate to the federal government on how its members should be paid their salaries.
ASUU had summoned an emergency National Executive Council meeting, where it was agreed that the leadership of the union at chapter level should begin mobilisation of members for an action against the government over the implementation of IPPIS.
The academic community had all along expressed their reservations on joining the scheme, citing the autonomy enjoyed by universities as well as the peculiarities associated with the academic environment.
But the federal government had directed that any worker not on the IPPIS would no longer receive salary with effect from October.
ASUU had insisted that it was not against accountability but would resist attempt by the government to violate existing laws and autonomy of the university.
The union also claimed to have offered to help the federal government design the appropriate template that would factor in the peculiarities of university lecturers in the IPPIS, a suggestion the government has not accepted.
