University lecturers may embark on another strike  after the Academic Staff Union Of Nigeria Universities (ASUU) lamented on Saturday over alleged refusal of the Accountant General of the Federation to pay the salaries and remit the check-off dues of over 1000 staff for 13 months.

The Chairman of the University of Jos branch of ASUU, Dr. Lazarus Maigoro, in a statement accused the AGF of instigating  discord between the federal government and ASUU.

Members of ASUU recently resumed work after a prolonged strike caused by a dispute with the federal government.

The ‘indefinite strike’, which commenced in March last year, arose from the union’s rejection of what it called the use of force on its members to enroll on Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS), a payroll software mandated for all public officials.

Labour Minister Chris Ngige expressed shock yesterday over the fresh threat of strike by ASUU.

He said he would find out the true position of things with a view to resolving the matter.

According to Maigoro, the AGF is insisting that lecturers must go to Abuja and register for the IPPIS despite the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said that “despite the directive given by Mr. President to pay the salaries of all lecturers, the AGF has refused to pay their salaries ranging from four to thirteen months respectively.

“Many of our members in University of Jos and across the country have not been paid salaries from February 2020 to date.”

He said by this single act, the AGF has completely violated the terms of agreement signed between ASUU and the FGN.

The AGF, Maigoro said, “is bent on withholding the salaries of over 1,000 members of ASUU spread across the country with more than 100 of such lecturers being members of our Branch in University of Jos.

“More worrisome is the fact that while the AGF is refusing to pay these salaries, his staff in the OAGF are busy calling the affected lecturers and insisting they have to register with IPPIS before they are paid.

“Some are even asked to forfeit a part of their salaries in order to be paid. So it is very clear that this is a deliberate act on the part of the AGF and his staff.”

He added: “In view of this evil ‘war’ orchestrated by the AGF, some departments are closing down and some new departments in some new federal universities cannot take off because of lack of manpower.

“The union  views this refusal to remit deducted check-off dues by the AGF as a deliberate attempt at preventing the union from  being able to assist those of its members whose salaries have been unduly and illegally withheld thereby forcing them to  submit to the underhand tactics of the OAGF and IPPIS.

“This we believe is also aimed at deliberately frustrating the implementation of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), the sophisticated payment platform developed by ASUU and accepted by FGN for implementation.

“The AGF is not just victimising some of our members but also waging a war of attrition against the Nigerian university system and by extension the educational sector.

“These actions are capable of creating disenchantment and possibly brain drain in the already weakened university system. We see this as a deliberate and systematic affront on the future of education similar to the war terrorists are waging against the nation.

“The Union has gotten to a stage where it may be forced to take drastic measures to save the lives and families of its members because their despair is also our collective despair.

“Whatever decision the UNION takes, we hope it will not be misconstrued by the Nigerian public, especially seeing the seeming silence of the public and the government over the complete violation of our 2020 MoA.

“While our leaders have prevailed on us to await the outcome of their engagement with the Chief of Staff (COS), Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, we are sorry to report that at our branch, we cannot wait any further as our members are going through very harsh conditions.

“We call on the Chief of Staff to act quickly to save his name by calling to order those breaching the MoA.

“It is also clear to us that Dr. Chris Ngige, the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, has only one interest: an opportunity for photo-op and pretends he has ‘apprehended’ industrial disputes.

“He has demonstrably failed to follow up on these issues and ensure the survival of our MoA. Currently, an ominous cloud is gathering over the Nigerian university system due to the lack of implementation of the 2020 MoA.

“We call on all well- meaning Nigerians to advise those responsible that this path will force us to take very drastic measures.

“In the end, it is the children of

all Nigerians in these universities that are suffering and not just ASUU members. In addition, third party deductions like union dues have not been appropriately remitted over the past 13 months.

“The Union views this refusal to remit deducted check-off dues by the AGF as a deliberate attempt at preventing the union from being able to assist those of its members whose salaries have been unduly and illegally withheld, thereby forcing them to  submit to the underhand tactics of the OAGF and IPPIS.

“This we believe is also aimed at deliberately frustrating the implementation of the university Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), the sophisticated payment platform developed by ASUU and accepted by FGN for implementation.

“The AGF is not just victimising some of our members but also waging a war of attrition against the Nigerian university system and by extension the educational sector.

“These actions are capable of creating disenchantment and possibly brain drain in the already weakened university system.”