President Buhari has approved the immediate payment of February and March 2020 withheld salaries of the University lectures that refused to join the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System, IPPIS.
Buhari’s approval came yesterday after he had a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige in Abuja.
The Federal government and the Academic Staff Union of the Nigerian Universities (ASUU) have locked horns over the refusal of the university lecturers to join the IPPIS payment platform.
Although, other university-based unions like the Senior Staff Associations of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, National Association of Academic Technologist, NAAT, and the non-Academic Staff Union, NASU that earlier enrolled into the program have threatened to pull out of it over alleged irregularities in the implementation process of the IPPIS.
Consequently, Buhari has issued an expressed directive to the Minister of Finance, budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Accountant General Office to immediately make the payment of February and March salaries of the university lecturers.
The Minister of Labour in his statement said;
“Mr President Muhammadu Buhari has today approved the immediate payment of the withheld salaries of February and March 2020 of the University Lecturers who had not registered on the IPPIS platform.
” He has also directed that the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Accountant General of the Federation to effect the payments urgently by all means to cushion the deleterious effects of the Corvid-19 pandemic on the Lecturers and members of their family.
“All Vice Chancellors are to revalidate affected Lecturers BVN and forward to Accountant General of the Federation for the payments.”