ASUU Rejects BVN Submission as Condition for Payment of Withheld Salaries

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has rejected the submission of Bank Verification Number, BVN, as a condition for the payment of February and March salaries of its members at public universities which had been withheld by the federal government.

AllNews recalls that the Federal Government had on Tuesday in a statement approved the payment of February and March withheld salaries of lecturers in universities, who were yet to enrol on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS.

This was after ASUU embarked on an indefinite strike on March 23, over failure of the government to address outstanding issues raised in the FGN-ASUU 2019 Memorandum of Action and the objections of ASUU to IPPIS. It had rejected the application of force on its members to join the IPPIS in spite of its offer of a more credible alternative to IPPIS.

Speaking in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja, ASUU President Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said, “We have been told that the Federal Government has approved the payment of withheld salaries of our members for the month of February and March.

“We appreciate Mr President for doing that, however, withholding February and March salaries was unnecessary in the first place.

“In the second place, the issue is the condition attached to it, which does not go down well with our members, which is the supply of their BVN. Our members are being paid in the past without asking for their BVN,” Ogunyemi said.