The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Sunday alerted that Federal Government is planning to ambush and force its members into the controversial Intergrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) scheme
Addressing a press conference in Ibadan, through the Chairman ,Ibadan Zone ASUU , Professor Ade Adejumo, vowed that the union was ready to resist the plans by the Federal Government at forcing ASUU members to key into it.
ASUU stressed that rather presenting the true picture of things on the controversial IPPIS, the Federal government has resolved into ” selling lies” to Nigerians on the matter.
“It is common knowledge that in the past week the media has been agog with news of the opposition of The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information Systems (IPPIS), a new and strange regime of finance about to be forced on public Universities in Nigeria. At first, our union and government were on the same page in respect of the infallible reasons that our union painstakingly explained to government representatives during our interactions.” it said.
ASUU added, “These, unfortunately appears to have fallen on deaf ears as government has not only rolled out its propaganda machines against our union but also planning to ambush the union and force our members into this ill- informed platform. These ominous signs have now made it expedient for ASUU, as a responsible union of intellectuals, to puncture the lies sold to the public by government, particularly the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, so that members of the public can be better informed about our position.
The union stressed “for emphasis therefore, we now present detailed perspectives of our union’s rejection of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to discerning members of the public”, saying, “the IPPIS clearly violates the law”.
According to ASUU, “the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act 2003, provides in section 2AA unequivocally, as follows: “the power of the council shall be exercised, as in the Laws and Statutes of each University and to that extent, establishment circulars that are inconsistent with the Laws and Statutes of the University SHALL NOT APPLY to the Universities.” Inter alia, the 1992 Act establishing, for example the Federal Universities of Agriculture Section 8 (1 and 4) provided; “Subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the visitor, the Council SHALL be the governing body of each University and SHALL be charged with the general control and superintendence of the policy, finance and property of the University.” and that “the Council shall ensure that proper accounts of the University are kept and that the accounts of the University are audited annually by an independent firm of auditors approved by the Council…”
The union pointed out that “these provisions make it clear that although government has control over budgets of universities the responsibility of dispensing finance is vested, by law, in respective university councils that employed the staff.”.
“Our union is appalled that Government losing site of the provisions of the law, reeled out the ill- advised Presidential directive that all employees of Federal Government in MDAs should enroll on IPPIS by October failure of which erring MDA’s will be denied due emoluments. Our union has no reason to believe that the President of the Federal republic will flagrantly act against the law, which he vowed to uphold in his oath of office.
IPPIS contravenes the ASUU-FGN Agreements of 1992, 2001 and 2009: paragraph 5.10, 1992 ASUU-FGN Agreement states thus: “the Universities should be allowed to operate in compliance with their enabling laws, statutes, rules and regulations in conformity with due process and within the laws of the land”.
Similarly, item iv of the 2001 agreement with government, while stressing the Powers of University Council reiterated that: “Circulars from ministries SHALL be deemed invalid to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Laws and Regulations of the Universities and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Then in the 2009 ASUU/ FGN agreement on page 25 states in absolute terms that “Each University SHALL ARRANGE its own cost saving measures.”
