IN LAGOS: ASUU: Why we’re against IPPIS

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given reasons why it rejected the plan by the Federal Government to enrol university workers into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The union said it violated university autonomy.

ASUU Coordinator in Lagos zone, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, who stated this on Thursday during a media briefing at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), said the policy was not acceptable to the union.

Sowande said it was important for the Federal Government to consider the peculiarities of the universities and their enabling laws before such decisions could be made.

The union leader explained that universities operate differently from the civil service and should not be seen as appendages of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government.

“In addition to the Act establishing each university, there is the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 2003.

“The Act states in Section 2(A) that the power of the council shall be exercised as in the laws and statutes of each university and to that extent, the establishment circulars that are inconsistent with the laws and statutes of the university shall not apply to the university.

“IPPIS will not recognise nor adequately capture the flexibility and peculiarities of the university system in terms of replacement/recruitment of staff,” he said.

Sowande said ASUU believed that President Muhammadu Buhari would not violate his oath of office, but would rather abide by the constitution and the law of the land.

According to him, the union is not opposed to accountability and transparency in handling public funds.

The ASUU chairman also explained that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) had no business in superintending over or introducing any financial control or cost-saving measure in the university.

But Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning said it would ensure that the last batch of workers is captured into the IPPIS.

The minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, stated this yesterday while defending the ministry’s 2020 budget estimates before the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja.

Mrs Ahmed said officers from the Accountant General were on the field to capture the last batch of workers into the IPPIS.

“It has been extremely beneficial because we have had savings up to about N250 billion from the exercise and the savings would be more when we integrate the component of the IPPIS, which is controlled by the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF),” she said.