The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced that its members are on the brink of initiating a total strike due to the federal government’s failure to fulfill agreements previously reached with the union.
ASUU also pointed to the insistence of certain subversive individuals, who benefit financially from the Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS), as another reason for the potential strike.
These individuals have ignored the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC) directive to exclude ASUU from the IPPIS platform.
In a media briefing held on Friday in Makurdi, Benue State, the Chairman of ASUU-Nsukka Zone, Comrade Raphael Amokaha, addressed the media with a speech titled “Averting a Crisis.” He emphasized that those benefiting from IPPIS are not willing to relinquish their control over federal universities due to their financial interests.
This has led to a shift from IPPIS to a new version and now to the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS), instead of adopting the homegrown University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS), which ASUU had offered to the government for free.
Comrade Amokaha urged the government to identify and take action against those involved in this persistent exploitation for personal gain. He also expressed ASUU’s dissatisfaction with the government’s failure to release the remaining balance of the eight months of withheld salaries for ASUU members, as well as the non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) and other due entitlements.
The union acknowledged the Federal Government’s reconstitution of the Governing Councils of Universities but criticized the illegal dissolution of some councils that had not completed their terms. ASUU argued that the government’s failure to reinstate these councils has added to the list of unresolved issues.
ASUU also expressed disappointment over the government’s neglect of the 2009 Agreement, which was reached through collective bargaining. Despite the establishment of several negotiation teams to find a compromise, the agreement has been disregarded.
ASUU expressed hope that President Tinubu’s administration would be different, particularly given his promise in his acceptance speech that there would be no more strikes in universities. The union urged President Tinubu to prevent the impending strike by directing the immediate signing and implementation of the draft agreement.
Furthermore, ASUU called for adequate funding for both state and federal universities. The union reiterated its long-standing position, dating back to 1992, that both the federal and state governments should allocate at least 26 percent of their annual budget to education, as recommended by UNESCO.
