Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has told its members not to see the payment of their withheld salaries by the federal government as favour but entitlement.
ASUU which also vowed to press ahead with its opposition to the deployment of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS in universities, insisted that members must not take the government’s action as favour but what they were entitled to.
Its president, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, who said these, noted that as workers, the university lectures were entitled to their wages from their employers.
“It’s clear that what government paid was rightfully earned by our members, not anything special or doing us a favour. Therefore, ASUU members have no apologieswithdrawing from their accounts as appropriate,” a message he passed to trustees, principal officers and zonal coordinators read.
He tasked members to gear up for continued battle with the government in respect of the implementation of the controversial IPPIS scheme in the nation’s ivory towers.
Ogunyemi explained that a series of enquiries by members in many universities prompted his explanation.
To this end, he enjoined them not to be extravagant in their expenditure as according to him, the release of the withheld salaries wasn’t an end to the struggle to keep the implementation of the scheme away from varsities.
“Our comrades are strongly advised to be prudent as the struggle for the rejection of IPPIS and resolution of outstanding issues in the February 2019 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA) is far from over. The struggle continues! Biodun Ogunyemi.
“Trustees, POs (principal officers) and ZCs (zonal coordinators): Good evening comrades. A number of our colleagues have called or sent messages to make enquiries about payment of the withheld February and March 2020 salaries of our comrades in federal universities through the rejected IPPIS platform,” he said.
Recall that following recent directive by President Muhammad Buhari that withheld salaries of the lectures be paid to them immediately, the lecturers were last Friday paid accordingly.
The salaries being for the month of February, was held by the government following ASUU’s stiff opposition to the IPPIS and directive by its leadership to members not to submit their Bank Verification Number, BVN and other details to the government for enrolment in the scheme.
Ogunyemi, while throwing more light to his latest message to members, insisted that the union’s disposition to continue the discussion with the government on the 2019 FGN/ASUU memoranda of action was still in force
Recall that the union had on March 24, declared an indefinite strike after the expiration of two-week warning strike it declared in protest to government’s insistence to implement the IPPIS scheme in universities coupled with alleged government’s failure to adhere to the terms of the 2019 Memorandum of Action.