The Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, says it is yet to receive the payment of two months salaries that was withheld.

The Union says, as at 24th of April when the Presidential directive on the payment of it’s salary elapsed, none of it members was yet to receive their pay.

The President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, made these known while responding to issues on the withheld salaries of it members, during a telephone interview with Voice of Nigeria Education Correspondent.

Professor Ogunyemi applauds President Muhammadu Buhari for his intervention in addressing the issue, saying the President had addressed the matter decisively.

Letter of Protest
The ASUU President also disclosed that the Union would protest the non compliance of the directive as it would write a letter of protest to the Minister of Finance and other Stakeholders on the deliberate effort by the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System IPPIS, to “derail” the process of paying their salaries.

According to ASUU President, “We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for addressing this issue decisively, what we heard is that our members should be paid not later than 24th of April and the agency responsible has failed.

“If the agencies responsible refuses to carry out the directive ,we are doing a letter of protest to the Minister affiliated and to other quarters that should be aware of this deliberate effort by IPPIS to derail this process of paying the salary to those who have been unjustly deprived.

“ASUU is not rejecting the payment of salary as directed, what ASUU is rejecting is the condition attached to the payment.”

The ASUU President said the Union understood from the President’s directive that it’s pay should be released immediately without further condition.

“From our understanding of what the President said, there should be no condition, We also know that the President directed the Minister of Finance to device any means that the salary with held be paid latest 24th of April, So there is no way Mr President could have said gather BVN of scattered lecturers within 3days ”

“Our members are not on campus for them to fill forms at bursary ,some of these lecturers are at their villages where they don’t even have internet services to fill any form online, there the agency is sending forms to them asking them to supply information that is part of IPPIS form”

“We see the condition as a way of putting a wedge on the way, it is a way of ensuring that the directive is not carried out and our members are not happy with it , now some agents have found a way of bringing in IPPIS form and that is what we are rejecting,” Professor Ogunyemi explained.

Necessary Documents
The ASUU President said the universities already have necessary documents that could facilitate the pay as directed.

“The universities have all the information they need to pay our members their withheld salaries.

“There is no way the issue of BVN could have been addressed in two days because our members have traveled to different locations all across the country which means the bureaucrats are still seeking for a way to force us into IPPIS, our BVN is requested from us, now the BVN form is attached to the IPPIS firm, they are requesting for BVN from our members and they expect it to be supplied on the IPPIS form.”

He stressed that it was not possible for it members to fill online payment forms within three days for them to receive their pay.

Professor Ogunyemi stated that the President had considered these before instructing the immediate release of their withheld pay.

“So our members could easily see the link between the IPPIS and the BVN request, the introduction of BVN or the IPPIS form are not part of conditions we thought should go with the payment of our withheld salaries.

“Our perspective is that under this lockdown our members have moved to different location ,we believe Mr President had fathomed this into account in directing that they release the salary immediately.

“Our universities have been paying salary without using BVN , why is it a condition now?

“We engaged one of the officials who said the BVN was requested because people could have changed banks and we thought what period of time during this lockdown that people possibly had changed banks,” he lamented.

Recall that President Buhari approved the payment of the February and March 2020 with held salaries of lecturers of Federal universities.

A statement released by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngigre, on 14th of April stated that the payment was immediate and without condition.

By Confidence Okwuchi