The battle between the Federal Government and university lecturers in Nigeria may not end any soon as the bone of contention between them still lingers.
President Muhammadu Buhari declared on Thursday that any federal worker not captured on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System platform would not be paid salaries.
This is at variance with the stand of lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, who have since rejected the policy.
It is one of the major reasons the teachers remain on strike.
While presenting the proposed 2021 Budget of N13 trillion to the National Assembly on Thursday, Buhari said, “Personnel cost is still our largest single item of expenditure. In the 7 months to 31st July 2020, it accounted for 34 percent of total Federal Government spending and is projected at 33 percent of 2021 expenditure.
“To check the incidence of payments to non-existent personnel and unauthorised allowances, only Federal staff that have been captured on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (‘IPPIS’) platform will receive salaries.
“All agencies have been directed to ensure that they obtain all necessary approvals before embarking on any fresh recruitment. Any breach of these directives will be severely sanctioned.”
