ASUU fumes over non-payment of salaries, victimisation of members despite suspension of strike

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Sunday complained about the non-payment of salaries of up to 10 months despite suspending the strike on “no victimisation clause.”

While blasting the Federal Government and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for victimising it members through refusal to pay them, it noted that “while members are back to their duty posts to work, the harsh economy being experienced due to unpaid salaries and non-refund of deducted check-off dues will affect productivity.”

A release by the chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan, Ayo Akinwole, a professor, maintained that the government had refused to remit the Union’s deductions it made to the account of the Union with a plan to stifle it.

The Union warned that if pushed to the limit, withdrawal of work in the nearest future might be inevitable.

According to Akinwole, while government is paying outstanding five months salaries for those on nominal role at an agonisingly slow pace, over one hundred UI academic staff are being owed salaries ranging between two to 10 months.

He disclosed that those newly employed in February 2020 have not received any penny with suffering on their families and dependants because they maintained their stand to reject enrolment on the IPPIS.

The ASUU chief stated that the Buhari government had continued to show that it cannot obey the rule of law by continuing to deduct housing funds from ASUU members who have not subscribed to the scheme and also refused to refund same to respective accounts.

“On December 23, 2020, ASUU conditionally suspended (with effect from 12:01 am on Thursday, 24th December, 2020) its 9-months old strike action which it began in March 23rd 2020 owing to the failure of the Nigerian Government to address the outstanding issues as outlined in the collective bargaining agreements of 2009, 2013,2017 and 2019 freely reached and signed between the Government and ASUU.

“The suspension of the strike was based on an agreement reached and a ‘Memorandum of Action’ signed in good faith between the Government and the ASUU at the stakeholders’ meeting held on the Tuesday, 22nd December, 2020. A major common position agreed to (and expected to be respected) by the Government and ASUU was that ‘Nobody shall be victimised in any way whatsoever for his/her role in the process leading to the Memorandum of Action,’” according to the association.

The university teachers union said “the agreement reached on the 22nd December 2020 imposed some obligations on both the government and ASUU.

“On the part of ASUU, the Union undertake to go back to the classrooms, laboratories, workshops, workstations etc, to do the best for the students and the country. The Governments is to both Federal and State is to sincerely fulfil their own part of the bargain, a major part which is the NO Victimisation clause. While ASUU as a Union, and her members as individuals in various branches have remain faithful to this agreement by returning to classes and performing their respective duties, the federal government, true to type has renege on its part.

“Contrary to FGN affirmation of its commitment to pay all withheld salaries of ASUU members who have not enrolled in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information system (IPPIS),three months after the suspension of Strike, thousands of ASUU members across various branch are still being owed salaries While confirming that government is defraying the generally withheld five months salaries at an agonisingly slow rate of one outstanding salary per month, the salaries of some members running to hundreds have been permanently and consistently withheld by the office of Accountant general of the federation (OAGF).

Officials of the OAGF keep adducing flimsy untenable reasons for the perpetual non- payment of salaries ,demanding loads of paperwork and documents both from the union and the bursary unit of the various universities as well as the university administration. The requested documents have consistently been provided on a monthly basis yet the salaries remain unpaid.

In the university of Ibadan March 10, 2021, 67 ASUU members that are on regular nominal payroll have their salaries ranging from two to ten months still unpaid as at March 10,2020 .over 80 ASUU-UI members in the faculty of veterinary medicine have their medical allowances of over eight months still unpaid. Ten sabbatical lecturers including an expatriate from Europe are being owed salaries of between two to twelve months. Fifteen lecturers who resumed duty in the university of Ibadan on fresh appointment are early last year yet to be paid a dime thirteen months after taking up and discharging their duties. All these are fallout of the union members not enrolling on the government IPPIS.

This government has again reneged on its agreement with ASUU and can no longer be trusted. Since the suspension of strike, three months ago, none of the issues in contention has been completely attended to.

“Despite the non-subscription nor registration of most ASUU members on the national housing fund (NHF)scheme, the OAGF has failed not only to refund the illegally deducted NHF contribution from ASUU members’ salaries since February 2020,the NHF deductions is still being made from the salaries of members.

“ASUU as a Union is not spared from the victimisation and surreptitious undermining by the federal government .The government ,through the OAGF has continue to withhold the Union’s Check-off dues it deducted from members’ salaries since February 2020. Federal government till date has withheld over 77% of Union dues it ought to remit into the account of ASUU, University of Ibadan branch. This, in the view of the union is a direct attack to cripple the Union, a grand plan of the federal government.

Instead of deploying the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) software developed by ASUU, which has been adjudged effective for payment of salaries, some of our members who are still being denied their salaries and others are being coerced by agents of government to register on the repressive IPPIS for payment of salaries.

“The Union ASUU and her members are made to suffer from all the aforementioned attacks by the federal government while the public expects our members, some of who now live on the charity of family members and colleagues for survival to use their personal resources to discharge their duties diligently in the Universities

These harsh conditions would have terrible consequences on public tertiary education in Nigeria and when push eventually comes to shove, as it definitely will, in no distant future the Nigerian public should accordingly blame the Federal Government for its insincerity. Blame the federal government of Nigeria if the Universities are shut down again.”