The House of Representatives has resolved to intervene in the crisis between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The House resolved to probe into the crisis following the unanimous adoption of a motion by Tajudeen Abass, who called for the intervention of the parliament in the crisis.
Following the decision, the House mandated the Committees on Finance; Education; and Labour, Employment and Productivity “to intervene in the conflict with a view to identifying the cause of the conflict, reconciling the warring parties, and report in two weeks’ time.”
While the Federal Government is insisting on capturing university lecturers on the IPPIS, ASUU has insisted on being exempted from the system.
The Federal Government had said it had received the nominal roll of about 41 universities as part of moves to capture university workers, despite ASUU’s opposition.
Moving the motion, Abass said the House was convinced that the IPPIS policy had been used as an effective and efficient tool to fight the malaise of ghost workers, which he said appeared to have defied all policies and mechanisms put in place in the public service before now to sanitize the system.
The lawmaker said, consequently, since the inception of the IPPIS policy in 2007 to date, the Federal Government had saved about N12bn by eliminating thousands of ghost workers.
Abass said, “The House is concerned that in spite of the several benefits of the IPPIS policy, the implementation of the policy has generated some controversies in some MDAs and has manifested some drawbacks which should be addressed.
“The House is worried that ASUU, in reaction to the new Federal Government directives on the implementation of IPPIS, is not only objecting to the application of the policy to the federal universities but has issued three counter directive to all its members not to comply with the directive “The House is also worried that ASUU has threatened to go on strike if the Federal Government attempts to enforce the implementation of the policy in the federal universities on the grounds that the policy lacks legal backing and its derogates from the autonomy of the universities.
“The House is alarmed that if the Federal Government refused to back down on the implementation of the IPPIS policy in the universities as demanded by ASUU, ASUU may go on another strike which may jeopardize the current peace and stability being enjoyed in our university campuses.”
Meanwhile, even after the Federal Government said any of its workers not captured in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, will no longer receive salary and the enrolment of federal university workers entered day two yesterday, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has remained adamant, as its members shunned the exercise.
Also, the refusal of ASUU members to enroll in the exercise is contrary to claims by the Coordinator of IPPIS, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Olusegun Olufehinti, that lecturers were enrolling in the exercise in appreciable numbers.
Checks by our correspondent at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, the University of Jos, UNIJOS, the University of Ibadan, UI, the University of Ilorin, UNILORIN among others, showed that only non-academic staff showed up for the exercise at the designated centres.
At the Jelili Omotola Multi-Purpose Hall, UNILAG, the leader of the team of consultants on IPPIS from Abuja, David Mega, said about 74 workers were enrolled on Wednesday and that they attended to people till around 8 pm.
Also speaking with newsmen, the leader of the IPPIS team from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, who simply gave her name as Rachel, said about 65 workers had been enrolled as at 4 pm on Thursday. ASUU’s stance has not changed
The Chairman of the UNILAG chapter of ASUU, Dr Dele Ashiru, said the union would not cave in to undue pressure to do the wrong thing.
“We are not in competition with any union. We care about the focus of our view. IPPIS is eroding the autonomy of the universities. We are in a democratic setting and we won’t allow dictatorial tendencies here. A union of intellectuals won’t allow an obnoxious rule to hold sway. We are also engaging the Minister of Education on the issue, apart from the rescheduled meeting with the leadership of the Senate. Even the World Bank has confirmed that the IPPIS is a monumental fraud,” he said.
Ashiru accused the government of engaging in needless propaganda with the intent of breaking the ranks of the lecturers.
Also, the UNILORIN chapter of ASUU has refuted some online reports by some national dailies that its members were already enrolling, describing such as ridiculous and attempts to embarrass the leadership of the union.
A statement signed by Prof. Saliu Ajao, said “The union thanked all the members for remaining resolute to the Congress’ decision not to have anything to do with the IPPIS until further directives are given by our national body. We appeal to our members to consciously and continually be on guard as some sponsored elements from within and outside the union are trying to distract us from our noble objectives. They will not succeed because our collective will and sincerity will see us through.
“I want to assure all our members that the Exco is on top of the matter and we are already demanding a retract of the fake and biased report from the concerned reporters.
“Congress members should be aware that our branch, being strategic, is very key to those who want to break our ranks using various methods, including sensational headlines in various media.
“There is no amount of intimidation, blackmail and propaganda that would make us surrender our collective decision to salvage the university system. Therefore, the days ahead will witness more of these obnoxious headlines and other tactics aimed at breaking our ranks. Let me assure you that a monitoring team is being constituted to ensure total compliance with the resolution of our union.
We all need to remember that, together we bargain and as individuals, we beg. For our union makes us strong.” At the University of Ibadan, the IPPIS team from Abuja only arrived at the campus on Thursday afternoon and the exercise commenced late.
However, the ASUU members in the institution maintained their stance not to partake in it. Similarly, the leader of ASUU at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State, Adeola Egbedokun, reiterated that what the union would not subscribe to anything intended to bring the university system down.
He said the union’s alternative to IPPIS, the Nigerian Universities Transparency and Accountability System, NUTAS, was better and cheaper than the one the government is touting. Our correspodent in Jos reported that the ASUU members also stuck to their guns of not enrolling in the IPPIS.