President Muhammadu Buhari will soon take a decision on the controversial University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) and the condition of service for varsity teachers, Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige hinted yesterday.
To guide the President in taking a decision, the inter-ministerial departments and agencies committees of the Federal Government will turn in their reports on Wednesday.
The reports of the committees could bring an end to the four-month old strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Ngige dropped the hint in a statement yesterday by his ministry’s spokesman Olajide Oshundun.
The striking lectures are at war over which payment platform to be adopted in public varsities between the government-approved Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and ASUU-preferred UTAS.
Yesterday, Ngige said last Thursday’s meeting was with the government side and not with ASUU members as assumed by their leadership.
The minister noted that the meeting was with the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Education, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Budget Office of the Federation, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
He explained that the meeting was geared towards accelerating the resolution of the multiple strike actions o ASUU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
The leadership of ASUU began a one-month strike in February which was extended at the expiration by two-month. The union further extended the strike by another three months to give the government ample time to meet its demands.
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