The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of intentionally obstructing the efficient functioning of the recently implemented Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), which has replaced the controversial Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
According to the union, the government is allegedly employing strategic methods to disadvantage university personnel, particularly lecturers, purportedly as retaliation for their opposition to IPPIS.
In an exclusive interview with the *Nigerian Tribune* over the weekend, ASUU National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, voiced these concerns while addressing inquiries about the N50 billion recently allocated by the Federal Government to address part of the outstanding earned allowances for university staff.
Osodeke noted that two weeks after the government announced the release of funds, neither ASUU members nor their non-academic colleagues had received their allowances. He further mentioned that some employees were still waiting for their April salaries.
“Many of us lecturers have not yet received our April salaries, which we believe is a tactic to coerce our members due to their rejection of IPPIS and to lure us back to that system,” he stated.
He revealed that employees still enrolled in the IPPIS platform had already received their April salaries by the first week of May, while those who transitioned to the new system continue to await their payments.
“The government’s actions appear to be a deliberate attempt to pressure us for opting out of the IPPIS platform. They will argue that we would have received our payments had we remained under IPPIS.
“However, we are choosing to be patient, and if the situation remains unresolved, we will escalate the issue next month,” he concluded.
