The Minister of State for Education, Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba, said some lecturers got excess salaries and had to refund it back to the government.
He disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today amid the controversy trailing the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), a policy that has been faulted by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“I think it is a lie to say the government has not paid them in eight months. It will be unfair to the government and wouldn’t be necessary to bring that kind of argument because some people may have different levels,” he said.
“Some people even got salaries that were not adequate. Some people over got and had to refund. There were so many issues with it.”
When asked when the university lecturers would call off their strike and return back to their classrooms, the minister never gave a specific date.
He rather said there is no circumstance preventing the lecturers from returning back to their duty posts.
“The lecturers can be back in the classroom tomorrow if they say they want to go back. There is nothing withholding the lecturers from into the classroom tomorrow.
“Everything that the government needs to do is done. If you want your salaries, get on the platform and collect your salaries,” he added.
The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba speaks during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on November 3, 2020.
ASUU had on March 23 declared an indefinite strike over some unresolved issues with the Federal Government, notably the non-compliance of the 2009 agreement.
ASUU President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi who made the announcement said that the action became necessary following the Federal Government’s refusal to address issues raised in its 2019 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as well as its objection to joining the Integrated Pay Roll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Also, during his interview with Channels Television on October 29, Ogunyemi insisted that there is no going back on the union’s position on the IPPIS, stressing that it was wrong to use the payment platform for university lecturers.
He blamed this for the alleged irregularities in the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers, stressing that some academics received very poor remuneration in some cases.
