The Academic Staff Union of Universities has accused the Federal Government of frustrating efforts to resolve issues that led to the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the lecturers.
The National President of ASUU, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, said this on Channels Television programme, Politics Today, Friday evening.
He explained that the Federal Government had refused to take the necessary steps in addressing the strike action.
According to him, the delay in adopting ASUU’s preferred platform, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, is one of the major reasons why the strike has lingered.
He said, “The strike is still on as a result of the FG not taking the necessary steps. We gave them two weeks to address our five points demands.
“We engaged the government but they were not forthcoming. They had a whole year to address those issues. They gave us positions that were not acceptable to our members.
“During our first meeting, we thought they were almost resolving the issues.
“What compounded the problem is the issue of IPPIS. We have said that it is a distraction. There is no university in the world that IPPIS is being used.
“We have done three presentations of UTAS to the Minister of Education and his team, the leadership of Senate and Office of the Accountant-General. They only agreed that UTAS is accepted in principles.
“We are almost getting UTAS approved but govt is saying that our members should first migrate to IPPIS before returning to UTAS. That makes no economic sense. The government has made it difficult for smooth negotiation. They said our members will be paid when they move to IPPIS.”
