The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has developed an alternative payment platform to the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System adopted by the Federal Government for payment of salary of workers.
The union stated that it came up with the University General and Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System in order to address the challenges encountered using the IPPIS that is alleged to have led to delays in salary payment thereby shortchanging the university workers.
In his address to the delegates during the second quadrennial conference of the union in Abuja on Monday November 9, 2020, the Union President, Samson Ugwoke, affirmed that the UG3PS platform was ready and waiting for test-run to be conducted by the federal government.
While expressing the unnecessary experiences faced over salary payments especially in the university community by the federal government, the SSANU President stated that the development of UG3PS is among their primary duties to solve the lingering problems with respect to salary payment.
He further alleged that the federal government has failed to uphold the agreements signed with the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU which is a invitation for indefinite strike action that may commence soon.
Among other issues of contention as listed by the SSANU president which needed government attention, boils down to the alleged usurpation of the headship of non-teaching units by academic staff in clear violation of conditions of service and establishment procedures.
Others include the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/NASU and SSANU Agreements, neglect and poor funding of state universities and corruption in the university community alongside the non-constitution of visitation panels for the universities in line with the laws
Mr. Ugwoke, however recounted the high level of distortion in the system which is caused by the newly introduced government payment controversial platform.
There have been issues bothering on salary payment between the federal government and the various unions in the university system, ranging from the UTAS of the ASUU and now the UG3PS of SSANU which seems not to agree with the government approved IPPIS payment platform.