Dr Aniekan Brown, Coordinator, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Calabar Zone has said that the association’s rejection of Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS), was not an endorsement of corruption.
Brown, at a press conference on Sunday in Uyo, said that ASUU’s position was hinged on its conviction that IPPIS was “not congenial with the modus operandi of the university system, given the institution’s peculiarities”.
“Besides, the NNPC, FIRS, NJC, CBN, Nigerian Security and Minting Press and National Assembly Service Commission, among others, have not been forced into the IPPIS. Why will the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation forcefully migrate staff of federal universities to IPPIS”?
“This speaks volumes of the fight against corruption. The question is, why are universities, whose conditions of services and peculiarities are incongruous with IPPIS, be forced into the scheme?” he asked.
Brown said that the Accountant-General’s office should redirect its energies toward addressing the concerns raised by ASUU on IPPIS as regards the universities, so as to avert industrial crisis.
The ASUU official suggested that the Office of the Accountant General should focus more on tackling pressing issues that were threats to industrial harmony and the growth of universities.
He said that the struggles of ASUU were always against corrupt tendencies, adding that ASUU was synonymous with integrity, credibility and accountability.
Brown said that ASUU was made up of law-abiding citizens who would continue to ensure that a better university system in Nigeria was in place.
The Co-ordinator said that ASUU would continue to resist any attempt to force IPPIS on Federal universities until all its concerns were addressed. (NAN)