The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of refusing to take necessary steps to address its demands which led to the ongoing strike action.
The National President of ASUU, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, made this disclosure while speaking on Channels TV’s programme ‘Politics Today’ which was monitored by Okay.ng.
According to him, one of the major reasons why the strike has not been suspended is FG’s delay in adopting ASUU’s preferred platform, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
He said: “The strike is still on as a result of the FG not taking the necessary steps. We gave them two weeks to address our five points demands.
“We engaged the government but they were not forthcoming. They had a whole year to address those issues. They gave us positions that were not acceptable to our members.
“During our first meeting, we thought they we are almost resolving the issues.
“What compounded the problem is the issue of IPPIS. We have said that it is a distraction. There is no university in the world that IPPIS is being used.
“We have done three presentations of UTAS to the Minister of Education and his team, the leadership of Senate and Office of the Accountant-General. They only agreed that UTAS is accepted in principles.
“We are almost getting UTAS approved but govt is saying that our members should first migrate to IPPIS before returning to UTAS. That makes no economic sense. The government has made it difficult for smooth negotiation. They said our members will be paid when they move to IPPIS.”
