Following the continued negotiations and meetings that have yielded little or no result, ASUU has said that its proposed payment platform “UTAS” (University Transparency Accountability Solution) can be ready for use in three weeks if the government is committed and ready to give the “go ahead”
Although, last week’s meeting of the FG and ASUU saw the Federal Government tell ASUU to stick with its IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System) platform pending when UTAS would be approved and ready to be used.
However, ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, in a recent interview with Punch said that the union was ready to make UTAS compliant with the government’s provision, adding that if the Federal Government is committed to ending the strike, ASUU’s “UTAS” platform can be ready in no more than three week, without the need to transit to IPPIS.
Professor Ogunyemi added saying: “What is left for UTAS to pass integrity test is what we have started with the National Information Technology Development Agency; we have submitted documents to NITDA.
“If government demonstrates sufficient goodwill and support, we can put the final stage behind us as a matter of weeks, maybe two to three weeks at most. It is the goodwill, commitment that we are now looking for.
“Rather than focusing on that, government is insisting that there is a transition; transition for how many weeks, how many months? This last week, they still paid some of our members who are not on IPPIS. So, what platform did they use?
“We have been telling them, use the platform you have been using to pay people; why the insistence on IPPIS? That is the reason we are saying there is a hidden agenda about IPPIS.
“At the appropriate time, we will expose those who are behind it. We have submitted every document, except if they want to sit on the documents. If they don’t want to sit on the documents why are they saying we should go back to IPPIS,” Ogunyemi stressed.
Professor Ogunyemi in response to the N30bn Earned Academic Allowance said that the allowance would be for the union members, stressing that the union negotiated for ASUU alone and not other unions.
