THE National Industrial Court (NIC) in Abuja on Tuesday held that it is a violation of university autonomy for the federal government to impose the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform on members of ASUU who reserve the right to determine how their salaries should be paid.
President of NIC, Justice Benedict Kanyip, who presided over the matter in his judgement, however affirmed the validity of the no-work-no-pay policy of the federal government which was implemented against members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Justice Kanyip held that government was right to withhold salaries of workers who embarked on industrial action.
Among the reasons ASUU adduced for the strike include the failure of the federal government to implement a 2009 agreement on matters bordering on increased funding of public universities and increasing lecturers’ salaries.
The matter got to a head when the union embarked on an initial four weeks strike on February 14, 2022 asking the government to honour the agreements it had entered with the union in 2009. On July 19, 2022, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, took over negotiations promising to get all striking university workers back to work in the shortest possible time
While Adamu’s persuasion worked on other unions, it fell flat with ASUU with the no-work-no-pay rule introduced by the government. ASUU, in reaction, extended the strike indefinitely on August 29, 2022.
Following its inability to resolve the dispute with ASUU through negotiations, the federal government, through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, referred the matter to the industrial court for resolution.
The government asked the court to determine the legality or otherwise of the strike. It also asked the court to determine whether ASUU members were entitled to emoluments for the period they had been on strike. The government also asked the court to adjudicate on the propriety or otherwise of the strike.
The government also “requested an order of the court for ASUU members to resume work in their various universities while the issues in dispute are being addressed by the NICN in consonance with the provisions of Section 18 (I) (b) of the TDA Cap T8. LFN 2004.”
