Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has accused the Nigerian political elites of positioning themselves ahead of 2023 general elections to corner the nation’s resources rather than fixing the problems in the education sector of the country.
The ASUU’s Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Professor Ayo Akinwole disclosed that government had resumed talks with the union and against its earlier posture had agreed to sit with the union to collectively address the content of the draft renegotiated 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement which government team started with the union in 2007 and was concluded in May, 2021.
It would be recalled that ASUU had maintained that the Federal Government abandoned the draft agreement for nine months and because of that the union distanced itself from any reconstituted Federal Government team to commence another renegotiation.
Akinwole, while featuring on a radio programme in Ibadan, stated that the union had been justified for rejecting the IPPIS not only because it was alien to the university system but because of its use to defraud Nigeria.
He noted that, if the suspended Accountant General of the Federation could allegedly divert 170 billion through the software, it shows that more frauds were endemic in the office of the Accountant General of the federation.
Akinwole stated that unfortunately, an amount of money close to the annual amount that would have been used for the revitalization of close to 100 public universities annually had allegedly been diverted by one person in government.
While asking the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ensure due diligence in the ongoing investigation, ASUU said the entire office of the Accountant General of the Federal stinks of frauds and forgeries and should be investigated, exposed and sanctions given appropriately.
“Our union’s earlier cry about the fraud in IPPIS has been vindicated by the revelations coming out from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
“More needs to be done. The agreed amount in the year 2013 to be injected yearly to give children of the masses a semblance of quality education is N220 billion but now about N170 billion naira has been allegedly diverted through the same IPPIS by the man who has been marketing it for public universities.
“The fraud with IPPIS is killing. If EFCC does due diligence with their investigations, more will be revealed about those who moved monies here and there and drain the nation’s kickbacks inside the office of AGF”, he said.
He stated that if Nigerian leaders were reflective they would discover that they have been most unfair to the citizens and have been programming Nigeria for failure and a doomed future.
Akinwole said a country operating cashless policy and e-naira but whose political elites move billions of dollars out of the nation’s financial system to cripple the economy in order to induce delegates were not people who would take Nigeria out of the woods.
He advised parents to join the union in getting their demands from the government noting that only a virile public education system will give children of the masses a future in Nigeria.
