ASUU And FG Clash Over New Payroll Policies For Tertiary Institutions
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed concerns over the reported removal of federal tertiary institutions from Nigeria’s Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). According to an online report, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) confirmed deactivating IPPIS for these institutions. The OAGF’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa, explained that this shutdown aligned with a government directive to remove tertiary institutions from the platform. However, ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, countered this view, asserting that while IPPIS may have been technically “deactivated,” universities are still required to submit salary data for IPPIS verification, a process he criticizes as complex and unnecessary.
ASUU argues that the IPPIS framework compromises the financial autonomy of universities and fails to account for various allowances and arrears, such as promotion arrears and study leave payments. Additionally, the union claims the platform’s design undermines the job security of lecturers over 60 years old, clashing with policies that allow professors to work until 70. ASUU has proposed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a more suitable payroll system for academic institutions, but the Federal Government has not adopted it.
Other university unions, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), expressed unawareness of this reported IPPIS shutdown. ASUU is scheduled to meet with the government’s renegotiation team soon, which will determine whether it will pursue industrial action.
Meanwhile, the Congress of University Academia (CONUA) has urged the Federal Government to release three months of withheld salaries. CONUA claims its members did not participate in the ASUU strike but are still being penalized with withheld wages. The union contends that this treatment is unfair, noting a National Industrial Court ruling from July 2023 that recognized CONUA as an independent body, meaning they should not be grouped with ASUU in matters of industrial action. The prolonged withholding of salaries, CONUA asserts, risks destabilizing the academic environment in Nigerian universities.
