Gbajabiamila said President Buhari has indicated interest in intervening on complaints by ASUU over payment of half-salaries to its members in October.
By Emma Ogbuehi
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamiala said President Muhammadu Buhari has indicated interest to wade into the latest concerns raised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over half payment of their salaries by the Federal Government.
He appealed to the members of the union to remain calm in view of this latest development.
The plea by the Speaker comes on the heels of reports that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ASUU may be meeting to take definite position on the half-salary which the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, said was because the teachers did not work in some days in October.
In a statement he personally signed in Abuja on Monday, the Speaker gave assurances that efforts were on to find lasting solutions to the concerns raised by ASUU on the matter.
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He said: “When the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off their industrial action three weeks ago, it meant that academic activities could resume in our nation’s public universities, and students could return to their academic pursuits after the prolonged interruption. This decision was rightly heralded nationwide as the correct decision.
“Since then, the Executive and the House of Representatives have worked to address the issues that led to the strike. We are currently working on the 2023 Appropriations Bill, which includes N170 billion to provide a level of increment in the welfare package of university lecturers. The Bill also includes additional N300 billion revitalisation funds to improve the infrastructure and operations of federal universities.
“Furthermore, the House of Representatives has convened the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of elements of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). This effort is being supervised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, Rep. Aminu Suleiman.”
ASUU suspended its eight-month strike on October 14, following an order by the Court of Appeal, which directed it to comply with an earlier pronouncement by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, before appealing its judgement.
The strike began on February 14 following the failure of the Federal Government to renegotiate the agreement it signed with ASUU in 2009, demand by the teachers for the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), as the payment platform in the university sector, among others.
The lecturers had insisted that IPPIS had never been implemented in any university system anywhere. Among its drawbacks, they say, is that it will shut the door against foreign scholars, contract officers and researchers needed to be poached from existing universities to stabilize new ones.
In suspending the industrial action, ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke emphasised that the Union was obeying the directive by the Court of Appeal, adding however that the issues leading to the face-off had not been conclusively addressed.