The Lagos zone of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Thursday warned the Federal government to rescind its decision of dragging Universities into the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS) saying the action may plunge Nigerian Universities into another crisis.
The ASUU Coordinator, Lagos zone, Prof Olusiji Sowande gave the warning at a news conference held at Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Ogun State.
He said the intention of government through the office of the Accountant General to forcefully enroll University staff into IPPIS without consideration for the peculiarities of the University and their enabling laws is not acceptable to the Union and it's glaring call for further crisis within the Nigerian university system.
He said there is no clear and convincing evidence that IPPIS can capture remuneration of staff on sabbatical, external examiners and earned academic allowance.
According to him, IPPIS will constitute an impediment in the ability of universities to recruit staff for new programmes as well as replace newly employed staff until they are enrolled in IPPIS database.
He said: “The law establishing each university is an Act of the National Assembly; hence cannot be upturned by operations of the office of the AGF.
“The office of AGF should note that our members are only answerable to their respective Governing Councils and no university in the world operates IPPIS related system.
Also speaking, the ASUU chairperson of University of Lagos
Dr Dele Ashiru, warned government from treating Universities as a government ministries.
He said "one other issue we need to underscore is this attempt by government to treat universities as government ministries and agencies. Universities are non-government agencies and that is a bit about academic freedom. Universities all over the world ought to respond to the viccissitude of time in their respective environments. If universities are brought under the dictates of one Accountant general,whose qualifications can also be questioned. It then brings to question the whole talk about the freedom of universities to carry out its business without let or hindrance.
"At the soul of this struggle is the rapid determination by a draconian government to bring everything under it's claws. For so long we have been challenging the question of over centralization in Nigeria. This is also another manifestation of government trying to overreach itself by bringing all government ministries, agencies, departments and now including autonomous universities under the direct control of one single individual who calls himself the Accountant general of the federation.
" Accounting for nothing. Over the years, billions of hard earned resources in Nigeria have been fleeced by individual corporate organizations under the direct supervision of the unaccounting accountant general of the federation".
"A presidential directive or a government policy can not supersede an extant law of the federation. To allow that to happen, is to encourage crippling fascism, and dictatorship in the system.
That is why ASUU is frontally, totally and absolutely against a draconian directive that seeks to erode a law properly passed by the national assembly. And that is also a challenge for constitutionalism in Nigeria. The national assembly must rise in defence of the law they freely passed since 2003 to allow an individual who superintends over corruption in Nigeria and is finding scape goats in those dare to challenge the draconian policy.
It's a challenge to the national assembly and our union is waiting to see how they rise to this occasion.
To allow IPPIS to stand is a total abrogation of that law, a violation of constitutionalism and the principles of fundamental human rights and rule of law which the President himself swore to defend".
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