By Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The crisis between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has taken another dimension as the union Thursday alleged that the federal government is planning to pay contractors handling the scheme N2 billion if all non-teaching and academic staff are fully enrolled.
ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Prof. Deji Omole, in a statement made available to THISDAY, described the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as a government of “contractoracy” where public monies are given out to friends of government for the benefit of associates.
He said the union gathered that the IPPIS contractor is paid N16,000 per person that enrolled by a government claiming to be fighting corruption, adding that according to the National Universities Commission (NUC) data, the 40 federal universities have a total of 119,202 staff (35,963 academic staff and 83,239 non-teaching staff).
Omole disclosed that assuming ASUU members enrolled fully, the director of IPPIS who claimed it has enrolled 39,000 academic staff must be fraudulent or confused and should explain where he got his figures from.
He maintained that ASUU members have substantially complied with the directive not to enroll and this has become a headache to the contractor who wants to enroll more people to get more money.
The professor of Forest Engineering noted that having failed to record success on ASUU members, the IPPIS team are even ready to go into houses to beg academic staff to enroll.
While stating that the union suspects that the contractors will work with the office of the Accountant General of the Federation to add fictitious names on the platform to siphon Nigeria’s commonwealth, he asked the government to test the alternative template the union has developed which captures the peculiarities of the university system without breaking the law and the ASUU/FGN agreements.
According to him, “What is going on is a grand plan to further swindle the commonwealth of Nigerians by the office of Accountant General and their contractors whom we heard are being paid 16,000 naira per person enrolled. So the more you register the more money you get. And that is why the AGF says December is the final day for enrollment cannot stop the exercise. They want to mop the money in the treasury before the end of the year in the name of IPPIS contracting. ASUU members don’t pay salaries of workers.
“Our members are not in audit, account or Bursary units of universities. Our calling is different from others in the university system. We are intellectuals. We have developed what government contracted out with millions from our experts. The government and their associates run contractocracy government. They must find ways to empower party men, family members and friends at the expense of the nation.”
