Details Of FG Delegation’s Meeting With ASUU, Others Emerge

The details of the meeting between the delegation of the Federal Government and the leadership of the university-based unions have emerged.

Nprima reports that the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, chaired the tripartite plus meeting held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

At the end of the meeting, Gamabri on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari directed the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, to subject the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System, IPPIS, and two proposed payment solutions by University workers to an integrity test.

The two proposed payment solutions include the University Transparency Accountability Solution, UTAS, and the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System, U3PS.

It is understood that ASUU proposed UTAS to the government, while SSANU and NASU proposed U3PS in order to address the allegations that they were being shortchanged in their salary payment.

A source at the meeting told Nprima that the meeting was attended by the leadership of the university-based unions, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige and other relevant stakeholders.

The source said the president’s directive was to ensure that the Consequential Adjustment/ minimum wage arrears are paid to the striking university workers this week in order to persuade them to call off the ongoing strike.

He said the President’s Chief of Staff gave NITDA three weeks to carry out the integrity test and report back the results.

The source added that Gambari during the meeting pleaded with the university unions to go back to their duty posts while discussions will be ongoing to address all their concerns.

It was learned that the workers were adamant insisting that the strike would only be called off when the federal government honours agreement was reached.

The source added that the Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige was mounting pressure on the relevant government agencies to ensure that some of the contentious issues are addressed as soon as possible.