SSANU Rejects ASUU’s Payment Platform, Wants Share Of N40Bn Allowances

THE Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities has asked the Federal Government to ensure a fair sharing of the N40b earned allowances approved for university unions, The Punch reports.

It urged the government to ensure that the money passed through universities councils, saying it has the template for the sharing formula.

Oasis Magazine (OM) had reported that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Friday agreed to increase the earned allowances for universities unions from N35bn to N40bn during a meeting in Abuja.

The FG also agreed to exempt ASUU from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System pending when its proposed payment system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution is vetted.

But the President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, who spoke to journalists on Friday, said his union would resist the introduction of any other payment platform “except the one being conceived by the Joint Action Committee comprising SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union.”

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Ibrahim also warned the government to be “wary of any group or union that would present any payment platform apart from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, which is the one recognised by the government to curb corruption within the system.”

SSANU leader said, “We are, however, not unaware of the prevailing industrial unrest in the university system and if allowing them a share out of the N40b promised by the government to end the industrial action is the sacrifice we can make, we would be willing to do so.

“If, however, we discover any attempt to allocate the disbursement through the Ministry of Education or any other government office and not through the councils as prescribed by law, we shall resist such attempt with all arsenals available.

“We are ready to take the government head-on if an unjust disbursement of earned allowances is contemplated. I wish to tell people who think that way that they may be in for a shocker.”