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IPPIS: VCs Behind ASUU’s Opposition, FG Alleges
The Federal Government has accused vice-chancellors of public universities of being behind Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) action opposing the implementation of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) in universities.
The government which likened ASUU’s opposition to the scheme as “Voice of Jacob and hand of Esau”, insisted that university lecturers were mere frontrunners for the vice-chancellors, who it said, wanted to thwart the implementation of the scheme in the university to cover up their age-long fraud.
But the government vowed that it was pressing ahead with the implementation of the scheme in the universities no matter the opposition by the university lecturers, saying time was up for their sponsors to be exposed through the system.
It claimed that it had uncovered monumental fraud in the employment of university staff by the vice-chancellors, saying it was computing the records to take necessary action.
The development, it said, necessitated its insistence that implementation of the IPPIS scheme must cover the university system contrary to strong resistance by ASUU.
The government, which claimed it had in its ongoing investigation, uncovered fraud where the university heads injected fictitious names of employees in the employment registers of their various institutions and used the same to draw money from it for long, expressed optimism that more than half of the nation’s public universities’ vice-chancellors would be found wanting in the act when the exercise is wrapped up.
“University vice-chancellors are behind this staunch opposition to the implementation of IPPIS scheme in universities. ASUU is just being used because they feel that as a strong union in the university, they are the only body that can stop the government from taking the programme into the university system,” a top management staff of the Federal Ministry of Education, said.
But he preferred his identity in secrecy because according to him, he was not given the mandate to go public on the issue.
“You think university lecturers would just ordinarily come out like that to oppose government’s mode of payment? What is their own? After all, they are mere employees of government,” he said.
He spoke further: “Vice-chancellors over the years have been engaging in employment rackets. All these years, they were just presenting the lists of their staff without government verifying the authenticity or otherwise. The IPPIS is about exposing them and they know the implications and that is why they are using lecturers to stop it so they can continue their old ways.
“But as a government, we are resolved to push ahead to the success of the scheme in the nation’s ivory towers no matter the position of ASUU and half of the vice-chancellors will not escape punishment,” he vowed.
All efforts made to get the reaction of ASUU failed as its President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, neither picked calls made to his known mobile lines nor responded to a text message sent.
It would be recalled that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono, had recent alleged massive corruption in the nation’s public varsities.
Echono said ASUU’s opposition to the IPPIS, was to cover the fraud being perpetrated in the universities, vowing that the government would not succumb to pressures from any quarter to drop implementation of the scheme in universities.
He had said: “I can tell you, there is massive fraud going on there. There is hardly any university that is an exception. We will not have the record for state universities but you can imagine if it is a pattern.
“It is not unique to universities, before IPPIS we were having similar problems in the public service.
“People will tell you, I have 1,000 staff but in real terms is only 500 that you have. In fact, when we now migrate to IPPIS, you are journalists, you should know that there were so many secret recruitment just to see how to put their names because of the gap.
“If you have been claiming 1,000 and you have only 500 names somebody would look at it and say where are these millions going to every year. Many have not been able to fill all the gaps because they also have some challenges.
“If you recruit somebody today, you cannot put him on the nominal roll two years ago. So if you ask them for the nominal roll three years ago, there are two things you can do, is either you give us the correct thing which will show that you didn’t have them or you go and put fake names there now and tell us that those people were there before but they left. And if you go and put fake people, this can be verified.
“The system check by the ICPC was launched by the President and it is in the public knowledge. In the report, they mentioned Constituency projects in National Assembly as a major source of fraud but our own it is the payroll system and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in universities.”
Vice-President KashimShettima yesterday departed Abuja for New York, the United States, to represent President Bola Tinubu at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
According to a statement released by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Vice-President, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima will deliver Nigeria’s national statement at the high-level meeting in New York.
The statement read, “Vice President KashimShettima has departed Abuja, Nigeria, to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, holding in New York, United States of America, from Monday, September 22 to Sunday, September 28, 2025.
“Senator Shettima, who is representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, at the global event, will deliver Nigeria’s national statement and join other dignitaries at the UN high-level general debates, among other side events.”
On the sideline, Nkwocha added that the VP will announce Nigeria’s new Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement at this year’s UN special event on climate.
The Tide reports that UNGA 80 opened on 9 September 2025.
Among scheduled events is a high-level general debate that will run from 23 to 27 September and conclude on 29 September 2025.
The SDG Moment will be held on 22 September to highlight inspiring action on the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the statement, Shettima’sprogramme in New York will include bilateral engagements and multilateral discussions on issues of national and international importance.
President Bola Tinubu yesterday celebrated his wife, Senator OluremiTinubu, as she turned 65, describing her as his confidant, counsellor, and steady anchor through decades of political and personal trials.
In a tribute released at midnight, yesterday, Tinubu poured encomiums on the First Lady not just as his spouse but as a lifelong partner whose sacrifices have quietly shaped their family and the nation.
He wrote, “As you celebrate your 65th birthday today, I honour not only the love of my life, but also a woman whose quiet strength and enduring grace have been my steadying anchor.
“Through every season, from the long years of struggle and political exile, to leadership responsibilities, you have stood firmly by my side with dignity, patience, and devotion that words can scarcely express.”
Reflecting on her influence beyond the home, Tinubu hailed his wife as a role model for their children and grandchildren, and as a symbol of resilience for Nigerian women.
“You are more than my wife. You are my confidant, counsellor, and the steady flame illuminating my path.
“In you, our children and grandchildren see the example of compassion and faith, and in you, our nation sees the true strength of womanhood; resolute yet tender, humble yet unshakably firm,” he noted.
The President also acknowledged the sacrifices his wife made during the years of political struggle, saying they amounted to a form of national service.
According to the President, “Nigeria owes you more than many will ever know. In every sacrifice you made quietly, in every burden you carried without complaint, you have served this country as surely as I have, not from the podium, but from the heart of our home.”
Expressing gratitude in his dual capacity as husband and President, Tinubu concluded: “Today, as your husband, I thank God for your life, health, and unwavering love.
“As your President, I salute you as the First Lady whose warmth and empathy continue to touch millions of lives across our land.
“And as your lifelong companion, I say that I love you more than ever, and am blessed every day by your presence. Your love is a treasure I hold dear.”
Tinubu wished her many more years of peace, joy, and fulfilment, saying: “Happy 65th birthday, Oluremi. May the years ahead be filled with joy, peace, and the fulfilment you so richly deserve.”
Earlier, the First Lady had announced that she would dedicate her 65th birthday to raising funds for the completion of the country’s long-delayed National Library.
She urged well-wishers to donate to the fund instead of sending her gifts and paying for newspapers advertisements to mark the days.
In a statement she signed last Thursday, Tinubu said she would spend Sunday “dedicated to God for all His blessings in my life and having a quiet birthday,” and appealed for contributions to an account tagged the “Oluremi@65 Education Fund,” coordinated by the Ministry of Education.
“I wish to appeal to those who would like to send a birthday card, cakes, flowers, greetings in the newspapers or gifts should please send the funds to the designated account for a special project close to my heart… The completion of the National Library,” she said.
“This will be the best birthday present I would ever receive. My love for education has informed my decision to dedicate my birthday to this worthy cause,” MrsTinubu added.
The National Library headquarters project in Abuja has been under construction since 2006, when it was awarded for N8.59bn and expected to be finished in under two years.
However, costs ballooned and progress slowed. By 2023, the physical completion rate stood at about 44 per cent with estimates ranging from N49.6bn to more than N120bn required to finish the 12-storey complex.
The site, located between the National Mosque and the National Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, has long been considered a symbol of a stalled infrastructure project.
Successive administrations have pledged to deliver the project, and in 2025 the Federal Government directed the Tertiary Education Trust Fund to take over funding and resume construction.
Education Minister TunjiAlausa said in April that work would restart by June 1, following site assessments.
The Nigerian Library Association renewed its call in September 2025 for urgent completion, arguing that the facility is critical to education, research and cultural preservation.
MrsTinubu, a former senator and First Lady of Lagos state has often tied her advocacy to education, women’s empowerment and youth development.
The Federal Government has unveiled N-ATLAS, an open-source, multilingual and multimodal large language model that supports Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Nigerian-accented English.
Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, DrBosunTijani, who announced this in a statement on his X account on Saturday, stated that the artificial intelligence was launched on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to the minister, N-ATLAS is developed to put African voices at the centre of AI development.
He said, “Starting with Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Nigerian-accented English, N-ATLAS places Africa’s voices and diversity at the foundation of AI.
“This is the first step in a broader journey to make Africa a contributor and leader in shaping AI’s future.”
According to the product description on its model card, N-ATLaS LLM features a speech-technology suite that includes language-specific automatic speech recognition models, which aid in transcription, accessibility, and local-language application.
It can be used to build chatbots that answer citizen questions about government services in Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba or Nigerian-accented English.
The ASR models can transcribe radio, TV or online videos into text and generate captions/subtitles in the four local languages.
Call-centre and voice assistant support can deploy ASR and LLM pipelines to capture caller speech in Nigerian accents, transcribe it and supply intent detection or automated replies.
The model can also be used to summarise interviews conducted in local languages.
The product was built by the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and partners, including Awarri Technologies, as part of Nigeria’s language-AI initiative.
The model documentation can be accessed on Hugging Face.
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