House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiama has assured that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that the controversy over the payment of only half of their October salary will be resolved by the Federal Government.

Gbajiamila gave this assurance on Monday while appealing to the members of the union remain calm.

This was after the president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke had at the weekend lambasted the Federal Government over the half payment, saying it was regrettable that the Federal Government was treating university teachers like casual workers.

However in his response in a statement yesterday, Gbajabiamila statement that intervention had been made by the House to explore the possibility of partial payments of the outstanding salaries (February to October 13) to the lecturers.

According to him, efforts were on by the Executive and the House to address all issues that led to the ASUU strike that kept students at home for eight months.

The Speaker specifically mentioned the inclusion of N170 billion  in the 2023 Budget to provide a level of increment in the welfare package of lecturers and N300 billion revitalisation fund to improve the infrastructure and operations of the federal universities,

Gbajabiamilla added that the harmonisation of some elements of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) was already ongoing to arrive at an acceptable payment platform for university teachers.

The statement he personally signed reads: “When the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off their industrial action three weeks ago, it meant that academic activities could resume in our nation’s public universities, and students could return to their academic pursuits after the prolonged interruption. This decision was rightly heralded nationwide as the correct decision.

“Since then, the Executive and the House of Representatives have worked to address the issues that led to the strike. We are currently working on the 2023 Appropriations Bill, which includes N170 billion to provide a level of increment in the welfare package of university lecturers. The bill also includes additional N300 billion revitalisation funds to improve the infrastructure and operations of federal universities.

“Furthermore, the House has convened the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and other stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of elements of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). This effort is being supervised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, Rep. Aminu Suleiman.

“Nonetheless, interventions have been made to explore the possibility of partial payments to the lecturers. We look forward to a favourable consideration by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, who has manifested his desire for what is prudent and necessary to resolve all outstanding issues.

“Implementing meaningful change takes time, especially when appropriations and modifications to systems such as IPPIS are required. Therefore, I urge all parties to be patient and grant each other the presumption of goodwill to the extent necessary to achieve our shared objectives. This is not a time for political brinkmanship.

“There is no more pressing objective than to preclude the possibility of further disruptions to the academic calendar of the universities. We must prevent this possibility by all means, as these disruptions risk the promise and potential of our nation’s youth.”