BEVERLY HILLS, October 13, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has said it might consider adoption of the University Transparency Account System (UTAS) presented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige made this known after a closed door meeting with the leaderships of the Senate and ASUU.
UTAS, proposed by ASUU to the Federal Government, is an alternative emoluments payment platform to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Ngige said that the alternative payment platform presented by ASUU was home grown and worth giving a thorough assessment test.
“We agreed at the meeting to give required consideration to the UTAS alternative they came up with as a way of finding a lasting solution to the lingering crisis over implementation of IPPIS. We have neither jettisoned the implementation of the IPPIS nor fully accepted UTAS . The level we moved to now is to subject ASUU’s scheme to integrity tests and in doing so, it will be presented to users like the office of Accountant General of the Federation on Wednesday .
“After that, it will be sent to the National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA) and from there to the office of the National Security Adviser for a second look. The platform is an option home-grown device that requires stage by stage consideration and from the looks of things is good”, he said.
Confirming the headway achieved at the meeting, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TetFund, Sen. Ahmad Baba Kaita, said that the interface had not ended, but a stage of compromise is getting closer between the two parties.
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“The meeting brokered by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, among other stakeholders, achieved a lot today with agreement on the need to subject the UTAS alternative brought forward by ASUU for an integrity test by all relevant departments of the government”, he said.
All efforts to get reactions from ASUU failed as the leaders refused audience members with the press after the meeting.
It is expected that ASUU will take final decision on the nationwide strike this week after a meeting of the School chapters of the Union.
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