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FG, ASUU Face-Off: ASUU Insists On UTAS To End Salary Irregularities
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Owerri zone, has urged the Federal Government to expedite action to deploy the University Transparency, Accountability Solution (UTAS), over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), to resolve the issue of irregularity of salary payments among university staff.
Speaking at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, the Zonal Coordinator, ASUU, Owerri Zone, Comrade Uzo Onyebinama, explained that ASUU was unveiling the UTAS as a credible alternative to IPPIS, since IPPIS has failed to address major issues that border around personnel information and payroll system.
In his words; “IPPIS does not respect the nature, structure and character of the Nigerian University System. The IPPIS does not recognize agreements entered into between the government and university-based trade unions as well as does not ensure simultaneous payment of employees’ salaries and third party deductions such as tax, pension, union dues, cooperative, bank loans, among others.
“The development of UTAS was a concrete attestation to the capacity of Nigerian scholars and researchers to respond to our developmental challenges when tasked to provide solutions. We express optimism that government would not renege on its promise because the benefits of UTAS to the university system both public and private cannot be found in any other software today.”
Onyebinama stated that about four to seven months salaries of his members are being withheld because they rejected the IPPIS.
He said when the Federal Government first introduced the IPPIS in 2013-2014, it was rejected because of its pitfalls.
Onyebinama decried the government’s sudden imposition of the system on universities, such that if you do not deploy the IPPIS, your emoluments would be withheld.
The zonal coordinator, however, disclosed that the UTAS, software built by ASUU and its researchers for the financial administration of the university’s FG’s staff monthly payroll and accounting processes, is now ready for the “integrity tests” required of it by the government.
He also stated that apart from the prompt and accurate payment of salaries, the UTAS allows tracking of staff career progression, guarantees automation of staff and salary administration, permits data mining for intelligent analysis and guarantees national security and sovereignty.
On the outstanding issues of the February, 2019 FGN-ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA), which was yet to be addressed after the expiration of the agreed timelines, Onyebinama urged well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the government to address all outstanding issues in the February, 2019 MoA, live up to its promise to adopt UTAS and provide the needed revitalization fund for improved infrastructure for teaching, research and welfare of students.
Meanwhile, the Benin Zone Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday, called on the federal and state governments to establish Visitation Panels for federal universities to avoid clashes and conflicts among management and staffs.
The zone made up of University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin City; Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma; Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA) Akungba Akoko, Ondo State; Olusegu Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTEC), Okitikpukpa, Ondo State; Delta State University, Abraka; and the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Efurun, Delta State; also lamented the proliferation of state universities and called for checks.
A statement jointly signed by the Zonal Coordinator, Prof Fred Esumeh; Chairman ASUU, UNIBEN, Prof Monday Omoregie; Chairman, ASUU, AAU, Dr Monday Igbafen; Chairman, ASUU, AAUA, Dr Simon Ehiahbi; Chairman, ASUU, OAUSTEC, Dr Dapo Akomolafe; and Chairman, ASUU, FUPRE, De Ezekiel Agbalagba; said the crisis rocking University of Lagos would have been avoided if there was a Visitation Panel.
The statement also said that ASUU has opted for the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which it said, would help curb corruption in the academic system as against the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS).
It said the union rejected the IPPIS as a payment platform because they discovered that it was not suitable for the university system and was not designed to accommodate the peculiarities of academic institutions.
“UTAS is a robust software that is in many ways superior to the IPPIS because it accommodates the nature, character and structure of the Nigerian University System and is guaranteed to operate above the dismal distortions, disruptions and gross inconsistency in the payment of the universities’ staff salaries that have come to be the norm with IPPIS”.
On visitation panels, the statement said “The failure to institute visitation to universities is denying the system the benefit of the time-tested, self-regulatory mechanism. The union wishes to state that it will closely monitor the activities of the Special Visitation to the university (Lagos) to ensure justice is done. The union also wishes to remind the government of the need to constitute Visitation Panels to the other federal universities”
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.