New Telegraph

ASUU TO GOVT: Adopt UTAS, meet our demands or strike continues

…says it’s honourable for FG to replace IPPIS with its home-grown solution
…warns govt not to play politics with future of nation

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned the Federal Government “not to play politics and vendetta with the future of Nigeria,” insisting on the implementation of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) platform in public universities.

The group, whose initial four-week warning strike in March, was extended by two months over government’s failure to implement the renegotiated 2009 agreement, vowed not to call off the strike until the government adopts UTAS and also meet their other demands. Lagos Zone ASUU Coordinator, Adelaja Odukoya, who sounded the warning after their meeting at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), yesterday, listed other demands to include the implementation of the renegotiated agreement, payment of all outstanding allowances (without prejudice to the donation of $1 million to Afghanistan) and fulfilment of all other issues contained in the Memorandum of Action signed with the union.

The Union accused the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami, of playing politics with UTAS, using the Director-General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa. Odukoya warned that politicising UTAS implementation would escalate the strike.

He said despite two different integrity tests con-ducted on the UTAS by NITDA, with respective scores of 97.4 per cent and 99.3 per cent, the agency declined the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance. Odukoya said: “It is honourable for the government to salute our union and replace IPPIS with our better homegrown solution.” He added: “We are aware that the position of the DG NITDA is not consistent with the enthusiasm of the Technical Team from the agency he superintends and the DG is unduly politicizing the entire process to the disadvantage of the country, possibly to the interest of the Minister for Communication and Digital Economy.

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