The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has advised the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, not to take the issue of the Universities Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) which was developed by the union to replace the Integrated Personnel and Payment Information System (IPPIS) as a salaries payment platform for the university lecturers in the country as a personal issue.
The President of the union, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, gave this advice on Thursday when Nigerian Tribune asked for the union’s reaction to the widely reported claim by the minister and the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa that the Federal Government is still waiting for ASUU to present a secured UTAS platform.
ASUU at the moment is on a four-week warning strike which it has embarked upon since almost a month ago blaming the failure of the Federal Government to meet its long-standing demands for the action.
Speaking further, Osodeke described the minister’s claim as a blatant lie and propaganda, saying it would do Nigeria and its public university system good for the minister and the NITDA’s DG as well as any other Federal Government agent that is involved in the contentious issues between ASUU and the federal government to be objective and truthful about UTAS and other issues still unresolved.
He said the new comment by the minister is an indication that he has taken the issue of UTAS personal just because of the ASUU’s opposition to his recent professorship award and that those in the corridors of power just want IPPIS at all cost to perpetuate defrauding Nigerians of public funds.
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He said the issue of UTAS is not a new demand by ASUU and that the union had on several occasions and at different fora demonstrated its workability to the government’s representatives including the ministers, and that they have scored the platform 85 per cent.
He asked rhetorically if it is proper then for the Federal Government to call UTAS that scored over 80 per cent in integrity tests a failure when its own existing IPPIS platform has been declared a total failure and rejected not only by the university and other government workers but also by those who understand the university ideal financial operations.
He said the political leaders should always be truthful in their dealings on issues of public importance such as UTAS and other ASUU demands rather than spreading falsehood, adding that this time around, Nigerians cannot be fooled.
He, however, pointed out that the union had all the records of its UTAS presentations and scores documented and shall make them public on Friday.
He said even at that, it is not only UTAS that is pending as the Federal Government tries to make the public believe, noting that the issue of renegotiation of conditions of service and salaries is also a must to attend to by the government.
When asked what next as their ongoing four weeks warning strike would end this Sunday, he said it is the National Executive Committee of the union that would decide that.
“But as we are speaking, NEC is yet to decide on that,” he said.
However, an inside source told Nigerian Tribune that only two options are available before ASUU and to be considered by NEC if the Federal Government refused to meet ASUU’s demands as contained in their jointly signed 2021 Memorandum of Action before the end of the warning strike.
The source said it is either the union roll-over the warning strike by extending the action for another period of time or declaring an indefinite total and comprehensive strike immediately.
The source said this time around, ASUU would not play into the hand of the Federal Government but would sustain the struggle till it lasted.
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