The Federal Government says its insistence on members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) producing their Bank Verification Number (BVN) for the payment of their withheld two months will expose those with multiple jobs.

ASUU members, who are currently on an indefinite strike, on Wednesday rejected the demand by the Federal Government to produce their BVN before the payment of their February and March salaries.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday approved the payment of the withheld two months salaries of ASUU members who refused to enrol on the Integrated Payment Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

In a swift reaction, ASUU explained that the Federal Government does not require lecturers’ BVN to pay the two months withheld salaries.

The Federal Government through the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono told Daily Sun that the affected ASUU members were not asked to enrol in the IPPIS before being paid their February and March salaries.

Echono explained that the affected lecturers were only asked to provide their BVN to their vice-chancellors, adding ”truth is finally coming out. Why are they afraid of BVN? Because all payments to a single lecturer through multiple accounts with different universities will be linked and traced through BVN.

“Those working in three, four or five universities and still claiming allowances for excess workload in their parent university will be exposed. This is the crux of the matter. It is about transparency and accountability period. Ask them about moonlighting by their members and draw your own conclusions.”

ASUU Lagos Zone Coordinator Prof Olusiji Sowande confirmed that VCs of the concerned federal universities were directed to collect BVN from ASUU members who have not been paid the February and March.

According to him, the salaries of lecturers in federal universities are usually paid without BVN and he wondered why the government is demanding for it, stating that the intention is to gather information about lecturers that rejected the IPPIS.

Some of the vice-chancellors confirmed to our correspondent the directive to demand lecturers’ BVN and also acknowledged the opposition of ASUU to the use of BVN to pay the withheld two months’ salaries.

ASUU University of Lagos chapter in a circular to members said information from some branches indicated that the payment is conditioned upon filling of IPPIS form and submission of BVN.

“Our union’s opposition to the obnoxious and retrogressive IPPIS enrollment for which we have been vindicated still stands. While thanking our members for being resolute and steadfast in the struggle for a better public university system in Nigeria, please, be rest assured that sooner than later all our outstanding salaries would be paid without any encumbrance,” Dr Dele Ashiru, ASUU UNILAG added.



Source:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sunnewsonline.com/ASUU-salaries-use-of-bvn-will-expose-lecturers-with-multiple-jobs-fg/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwir07bw9IDpAhUk8-AKHTSzDOAQ0PADMAF6BAgKEAo&usg=AOvVaw3Rbw2gb_djOsPCjOQEluMq&ampcf=1

nice move by the FG.

Certainly..

How was fg paying them without bvn in the first place?

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I have read many comments here and realized that almost everyone has no idea how the university system works and they are quick to make ignorant comments. There is a lot to say but I'll just focus on lecturers teaching in more than one university.

ASUU COLLECTING MULTIPLE SALARIES?


One. As at today there is no Nigerian University that is okay with its staffing needs, probably only the 1st and 2nd generation ones. Most of the remaining Universities including those set up by Presidents Jonathan and later Buhari are surviving due to:

1 Sabbatical staffers
2 Visiting staffers
3 Contract staffers

Most of these staffers are recruited from the existing staffers of other federal Universities. These same staffers are the ones servicing most state and private universities.

Consequently, going by FG insistence on IPPIS, it is saying to other universities to close shop, because with this payment method in place, all staffers spread through out the country, earning legitimate salary will either forfeit their main salary or the allowances as a result of servicing other universities that need their services.

Two, the current number of academic staffers which is about 40,000 is grossly inadequate for FG and State Universities, that is why there is the need for adjunct staffers from within.

Three, the idea that we should recruit new staffers from the large pool of unemployed youth in the country is not tenable, because there is the policy of Staff Mix as enshrined in the NUC BMAS, you can not just employ a Professor or Senior Lecturer from the open market.

So you see, FG policy inconsistencies is the bane. They are always setting up new universities without concurrent staff ration on ground. If the Managements of the institutions in trying to survive recruit sabbatical, visiting and contract staffers from within the system, the FG accuse them of paying same staffers double salaries and you want to use IPPIS or another policy to weed out ghost workers.

So you see! ASUU is trying to protect the system from all angles. If the FG does not want sabbatical and other adjunct staffers in other universities as it is derailing the system, let them close ALL universities using them as their permanent staffers. It is as simple as that.

By so doing most State Universities and newly created FG universities will cease to exist. Forget about Private universities, they are surviving because of this same system that the FG abhors.

It should be noted that sabbatical and visiting staffing are common practices in academia all over the world.

ASUU is not a one armed bandit as it is portrayed. It is the Union that is the saviour of the system. If today ASUU will be adamant and say "hey go to hell, let all our members stay in their original places of work, no more sabbatical, visiting and other adjunct services", half of the universities will close shop.

Hate or love the Union, for ASUU it is inconsequential!

Starve the staffers to death!

Strangle the educational system to death!

Deliberately kill the educational system!

ASUU will continue to fight.

If the Union survived the subversive boots of the military, babbar riga and gowns of the civilians can not be that intimidative!

Dare to confront injustice!

ASUU is not out to court SYMPATHY!