By Ken Afor
The Federal Executive Council has granted approval for the exemption of Federal Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education from the Integrated Personnel Payment System (IPPIS).
This decision was made during the council’s meeting on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The decision takes immediate effect according to Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, during a briefing with State House Correspondents.
With the decision, Vice Chancellors of Universities would no longer be required to travel to Abuja for the purpose of processing their personnel’s salaries.
It would be recalled, the federal government had been engaged in a dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) regarding the ongoing utilization of IPPIS for the remuneration of university lecturers’ benefits. This dispute has led to countless strikes by lecturers in federal higher institutions.
Chris Piwuna, the Vice President of ASUU, strongly advocates against the implementation of IPPIS. He emphasizes the importance of university autonomy and accused the Office of the Head of Service of interfering in university affairs.
“We are not accepting that IPPIS is in any shape or form. ASUU will never accept IPPIS on our campuses,” he said.
“Autonomy of Nigerian university is our problem, not the peculiarities in IPPIS…The Office of the Head of Service of the Federation has taken over the work of the university governing councils and vice-chancellors.
“We are asking that they take their hands off the universities.”
ASUU has chosen the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as their preferred payment platform.
In response to the pressure exerted by ASUU, the government has agreed to make concessions and collaborate with the union in order to adapt the IPPIS system to accommodate the unique characteristics of universities and the UTAS, the preferred payment platform for lecturers.
