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ASUU, Senate brainstorm on way forward for IPPIS, union want UTAS

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, led other lawmakers to engage leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday on the enrolment of the union’s members in the disputed Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The meeting was designed to discuss issues relating to non-implementation of agreements reached between ASUU and the Federal Government in 2009. The Guardian recalled that during his budget presentation last Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari had said only staff members who have been captured on the IPPIS platform would receive their salaries.

ASUU’s meeting with the Senate leadership was a follow up of the earlier meeting held in October last year.

President of ASSU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said the union had promised Nigerians that it would develop an alternative platform to IPPIS for its members. At the meeting held to showcase the innovation and platform developed to leadership of Senate, he said it was also designed to discuss issues relating on non- implementation of its various agreements earlier reach with the Federal Government.

But ASUU insisted that it would not be cowed by President Buhari’s threats on over their home grown template tagged: University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS)

Leadership of ASUU had presented UTAS to the Federal Government five years ago for which government agreed to partner with the union by bringing engaging three persons only to recant at the last minute. However, Ogunyemi insisted ASUU would not shift grounds on UTAS, which he said, Lawan appreciated.