TheCable

The federal government says it may consider adopting the University Transparency Account System (UTAS) presented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Chris Ngige, minister of labour, said this on Tuesday while addressing journalists after meeting with the leadership of the senate and that of ASUU.

The federal government in October 2019 directed workers in its ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) to enroll on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Members of the academic union kicked against the payment platform, citing “irregularities”.

They, instead, proposed UTAS as an alternative to IPPIS.

The union embarked on strike in March after the federal government insisted they enroll on the IPPIS platform.

But speaking after the meeting, Ngige said the alternative payment platform presented by ASUU was homegrown and worth given consideration.

He said UTAS will be put through thorough assessment.

The minister said no concrete decision has been reached, and that the government has “neither jettisoned the implementation of the IPPIS nor fully accepted UTAS”.

“We agreed at the meeting to give required consideration to the UTAS alternative they came up with as a way of finding lasting solution to the lingering crisis over implementation of IPPIS,” Ngige said.

“We have neither jettisoned the implementation of the IPPIS nor fully accepted UTAS.

“The level we moved to now is to subject ASUU’s scheme to integrity test and in doing so, it will be presented to users like the office of Accountant General of the Federation on Wednesday .

“After that, it will be sent to the National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA) and from there to the office of the National Security Adviser for second look.

“The platform is an option grown device that requires stage by stage consideration and from the looks of things is good.”

The development comes six days after President Muhammadu Buhari said only federal workers on IPPIS will be paid their salaries.