FG Should Adopt UTAS As Its Payment System – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, on Friday has urged the Federal Government to stop delaying the adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solutions as a reliable payment system for varsity lecturers.

The Coordinator of Nsukka Zone of ASUU, Raphael Amokaha recently revealed this to the press, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the government should consider this request because ASUU is ready to continue its suspended industrial action should FG remain adamant.

He added that a recently organized meeting deliberated on the proliferation of state-owned universities without requisite funding.

His words, “ASUU, therefore, cannot understand the continued delay by government in adopting and deploying UTAS as an alternative to IPPIS, which has failed in all ramifications.”

“It is to be noted that this government has advocated local content in our development efforts. UTAS is a home-grown programme that has been shown to be a viable solution to a Nigerian problem.”

“There is no rational consideration why government should be foot-dragging instead of adopting and deploying UTAS with excitement that its own academic industry has come up with a cutting-edge solution.”

“On the issues of funding for revitalisation of public universities and earned academic allowances, ASUU-Nsukka Zone is aware that letters were to be written by 3rd August, 2021 from the Ministry of Education to the Central Bank of Nigeria to transfer funds for the revitalisation of public universities to the NEEDS Assessment account; and same Ministry of Education was to write another letter to the Ministry of Finance to release the May 2021 tranche of Earned Academic Allowances and copy the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Actions are still being awaited on these issues. Efforts were also to be made by the Ministry of Finance to release 10.9 per cent of N203bn (N22.127bn) already appropriated in the budget of 2021; this too is yet to be done.”

“The zone is worried that the urgency in writing inter-ministerial letters only comes to play when there are meetings between government and our union. It then becomes a heavy task for us to give government the benefit of the doubt that it is not engaging in delay tactics by using patronising phraseology.”