ASUU didn’t go on strike over IPPIS, says UNN-ASUU Chairman

Dr Christian Opata, a chieftain of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the union’s rejection of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information Management System (IPPIS) has nothing to do with its current strike.

Opata, who is the Chairman of ASUU, University of Nigeria, Nsukka chapter, said this on Monday while briefing newsmen on the protracted nationwide action.

He said the briefing was to correct the “misinformation” in a national daily, where it was alleged that the union embarked on its action because of IPPIS.

According to him, ASUU went on strike because Federal Government failed to honour the 2009 agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it entered with ASUU.

“ASUU didn’t go on strike because of a misunderstanding with government on IPPIS as platform for payment of salary.

“IPPIS issue started in 2018, before then, ASUU has been calling on government to honour the 2009 agreement and various MoUs it entered with government.

“In the 2009 agreement and MoUs, government agreed, among other things, to release money to revitalise the decaying infrastructure in public universities and set up visitation panels to know the condition of the universities,” Opata said.

He said that it was mischievous for anybody to accuse ASUU of insensitivity over the plight of students and parents, when government was guilty of reneging on its 2009 agreement and MoUs.

Opata said the ongoing strike could have been averted, “if government honoured and implemented its 2009 agreement and MoUs with ASUU.

He said the union took strong exception to the feature story in the national daily.

“The writer is not fair to ASUU, which has been fighting to ensure the revitalisation of public universities to ensure that students compete with their counterparts globally,” he said.