President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate payment of the February and March, withheld salaries of lecturers in federal universities who have not registered in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, made this disclosure in a statement signed by his new media aide, Emmanuel Nzomiwu.
Ngige said the president also directed the Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, and the Accountant General of the Federation to effect the payment urgently to cushion the deleterious effects of COVID 19 pandemic lockdown on lecturers and members of their family.
The Labour Minister added that all the Vice Chancellors were asked to revalidate the affected lecturers Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and forward to the Accountant General of the Federation for the payments.
The Federal Government had directed all federal tertiary institutions in the country to enroll in the IPPIS from February 2020.
Reacting to the development, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi, said the directive directive was in the right direction and would lead to meaningful dialogue with the government.
In a chat with a reporter, the president was quoted saying “Our members worked in February and we were still working in March before this Coronavirus pandemic broke. It is expected that a labourer be paid his wages. Even as we are talking, people are supposed to be prepared to get their April salary.
“I think what the government wants to do is to cushion the effects of the lockdown and the near paralysis of economic activities in the country on everybody including our members. We appreciate the gesture even though there was no reason to stop our salaries in the first instance, “he said.
The ASUU boss, however, did not say when the ongoing industrial action by the union would be called off. It was gathered that the moment the salaries are paid, the National Executive Committee of the union would meet to deliberate on the next line of action.
ASUU has been at loggerheads with the Federal Government over the IPPIS matter. While other trade unions in the university system opted to enrol in IPPIS, ASUU boycotted it, saying it would cripple the university system and erode the autonomy being enjoyed. Early March, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT that supported IPPIS said they would embark on strike following the discrepancies in the payment of their February salary.
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