The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of manipulation as both parties fail to reach a compromise over the lingering industrial action by the lecturers.

ASUU National President, Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi, who was a guest on Sunrise Daily on Monday also blamed the government for the inability of union members to return to class since March.

While both parties are at loggerheads over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), he insisted that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) was the way to go for the lecturers.

Professor Ogunyemi noted that while progress was being made, the government has insisted that there was a transition period within which ASUU members would first be captured in the IPPIS before migrating to UTAS.

Game Of Deception?
He, however, accused the government of playing a game of deception, saying it has failed to show commitment to resolving the impasse.

“What we need is a commitment; there is nothing like transition and what we are saying, in essence, is that government should just go ahead and pay what government has withheld – the salaries of our members; people have not been paid for eight or nine months on account of not registering on IPPIS,” the ASUU president said on the Channels Television breakfast show.

He added, “Government should stop this arm-twisting and manipulation, going back to universities to ask them to go and enroll in IPPIS so that they will go and migrate to UTAS; people see it as a game of deception and we cannot trust them.”

According to Professor Ogunyemi, it is not the place of the union to tell the government where to get the fund to address its challenges.

He stressed the need for the government to show more commitment to the ongoing negotiations in order to ensure lecturers and students return to the classroom.