In passing a vote of no confidence on the Implementation of
the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), NASU said
contrary to assurances made by government before introducing the salary payment
platform, IPPIS has now become a source of pain on workers and their families.
NASU listed some of the negative and unresolved effects of
the implementation of the IPPIS policy to include short payment of salaries of
staff, lack of payment of salaries at all to some staff, withholding of third
party deductions, non-payment of promotion arrears and withholding of the
legitimate allowances due to the staff.
NASU President, Makolo Hassan who spoke at the opening of
the National Executive Council meeting of the union in Abuja, yesterday, said
the non-teaching staff unions in the universities and Inter-University Centres
had fought relentlessly over the disproportionate sharing formula of 80/20 per
cent and 75/25 per cent to the academic and non-teaching staff in the
universities.
He accused government officials of showing bias towards
academic staff against the non-teaching staff of universities and inter-university
centres in the payment of Earned Allowances.
He said that the non-teaching staff unions had approached
the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, who is the
Conciliator-in-Chief of the Federation over the sharing formula, but he asked
them to take their grievance to the Federal Ministry of Education and the
National Universities Commission (NUC).
“All these leaves no one in doubt that the federal
government is emotionally motivating non-teaching members of staff to take
unintended actions that will assist them to gain equity on the matter.
“We are therefore using this medium to call on the President
to intervene and stop the continuous sowing of seed of inequity and distrust in
the system by officials of his government. We are aware of plans to share the
next round of the Earned Allowance in the same manner it was done previously.
“To continue to ignore the feelings of Non-Teaching staff in
these acts of unfair treatment, will not make the feeling to go away; rather,
such attitude of government officials will continue to provoke industrial
crisis in the system.
“We are making it clear that, if the federal government
decides as usual to ignore this appeal, then government would have forced us
into resuming our suspended strike on this matter.
Hassan said the unending crisis associated with the
unjustified sharing formula of the Earned Allowance in the universities and
Inter-University Centres calls to question the sincerity of this government
toward the fight against corruption.
“It is clear to us that Government officials do not give
premium to issues of equity, fairness, natural justice and good conscience.
Close to five years, the non-teaching staff unions in the Universities and
Inter-University Centres have fought relentlessly over the disproportionate
sharing formula of 80/20% and 75/25% to the Academic and non-teaching staff in
our universities.”
According to Hassan, the previous sharing formula for the
Earned Allowance showed that in 2019, the third tranche of N25 billion was
released at the rate of 80 per cent to ASUU and 20 per cent to Non-Teaching
Staff, while the fourth tranche of Earned Allowance for 2021, N40 billion was
released at the rate of 75 per cent to ASUU and 25 per cent to non-teaching
staff.
On the issue of IPPIS, Hassan said at the point of
introduction of IPPIS, federal government gave the impression that they had
overcome challenges encountered by workers in the seven pilot Ministries,
Departments and Agencies and promised that no worker in tertiary institutions
will suffer as a result of the implementation of the policy.
He said it was unfortunate and painful that the promise given
before the policy was implemented in tertiary institutions has failed to
materialise.
“Close to two years down the line of the implementation of
the policy in tertiary institutions, the fears of workers when embracing the
policy have manifested and remain unaddressed, while inflicting massive pains
on workers in the sector and their families,” he said.
On his part the General Secretary of NASU, Adeyemi Peters
said contrary to the statement made by the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris
Ngige was lack of education that was fueling strike and agitations by trade
unions, it is due to the lack of insincerity by government officials that is
actually causing the incessant strike in the country.
He said the government appointees usually look down the
workers and the union leaders even when some of them do not possess the level
qualifications.
“There are industrial actions everywhere and every sector is
engulfed in one dispute or the other. Let me use this opportunity to tell those
in government that it is not about the level of education, but that it is
important for them to begin to respect agreements made to meet the demands of
workers and not to wait until the unions get fed up and embark on strike then
you call them to sign Memoradum of Understanding that will not be implemented,”
he said.
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