BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that it may have no option than to embark on its suspended strike action unless the Federal Government implement all of the articles contained in the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed in 2020.
The warning was issued by the Bauchi Zone of ASUU which declared that 95 lecturers with the University of Jos, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi and the Federal University, Kashere are being owed salary arrears of between two and 13 months.
ASUU told journalists shortly after its meeting at its ATBU secretariat on Tuesday that what the Federal Government is doing is a “deliberate stealing of its members’ salaries.
The Bauchi Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Prof Lawal Garba Abubakar said that the body is holding the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige responsible for the lingering crisis as he has refused to act to end the crisis due to his personal reasons.
Abubakar also said that though Senator Ngige gave a marching order to IPPIS officials to resolve all the issues or prepare a memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Abubakar said; “The inconsistencies observed in the application of the IPPIS in the payments of salaries, remittances of third-party deductions have continued in all the Federal Universities.
“Since the introduction of IPPIS in February 2020, our members have continued to be omitted from the payments of salary on monthly basis. This is the situation across all the Federal Universities in the country”.
“Every month when salary is paid, a different set of staff will have their names omitted from the payment for that particular month. As we speak now, about 95 lecturers from the University of Jos are being owed salary arrears of 2 to 13 months. It is the same situations in ATBU Bauchi, 16, and the Federal University, Kashere 18.
“This is deliberate and amounts to victimization of ASUU members by IPPIS Office as a ploy to force them to enrol, thereby frustrating the implementation of UTAS as agreed before the strike was suspended in 2020,” he said.
He further said; “The questions that need answers here are; are some individuals feeding fat on the high cost of maintenance and consultancy fees on IPPIS as against the freely developed and more efficient UTAS that has taken care of the University peculiarities, in line with extant Laws? Could this be the reason for the foot dragging by FGN to deploy UTAS in the Universities?
“One other disturbing trend we wish to bring to the public domain is that Professors and Readers (Associate Professors), who are supposed to retire at the age of 70 years, are now being forcefully retired by IPPIS through abrupt stoppage of their salaries in violation of the Universities Miscellaneous Act of 2012.
“Again, the salaries paid to our members are not commensurate with their ranks based on the prevailing salary Table. What we have been suffering is a theft on our salaries; others call it amputation.
“At the end of every month, no one can say for certain what his or her exact salary would be as a result of unauthorized deductions; one must just do with what IPPIS throws at you. Another question is, where do they take these unauthorized deductions to? he asked.
Abubakar also said that one other major problem is the fact that promotions are not implemented on time, adding that even after implementation, the promotion arrears are not easily paid.
“In the light of the above, we are pained to bring these issues to the public because more than nine months after suspending the 2020 strike, government has again reneged on the FGN-ASUU 2020 MoA and the union is now left with no choice than to activate its procedure of resuming the conditionally suspended strike in the event that these issues are not addressed before we conclude our internal processes”.
“The public, in this circumstance, should not hold our Union responsible for any disruption of Academic activities in the Nigerian public universities. We call on well-meaning Nigerians, parents, students, Civil Society Organizations and the general public to continue to understand with, and support ASUU on this just course. We call on ASUU members all over the country to continue to be with and support the National Leadership,” Abubakar pleaded.
