The Academic Staff  Union of Universities on Wednesday  accused the Minister of Labour and Employment , Dr. Chris Ngige, of being economical with the truth over his claims that the union would soon call off its strike.

ASUU said it was a lie that efforts to address the contentious issues were in progress and that the striking lecturers had been receiving their salaries regularly.

Members of ASUU had embarked on an indefinite strike on March 23 over alleged shortcomings of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and failure of the Federal Government to honour its 2019 agreement.

But Ngige, while featuring on a television programme on Channels TV on Tuesday said  the Ministries of Finance, Education, Labour and Employment and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation would meet with ASUU.

Ngige was also quoted to have said the FG was ready for an integrity test of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution developed as an alternative to IPPIS by the varsity lecturers.

The Coordinator of ASUU, Lagos Zone, Prof Olusiji Sowande, said Ngige was being “economical with the truth by misinforming the  public that government has been paying the salaries of members of our union to date.”

Sowande in a statement in Abeokuta on Wednesday said government only paid salary up to June, insisting that lecturers are still being owed three month salaries.

He said in some universities, ASUU members had not received salary for six months.

Sowande also said the Minister also misinformed the public by narrowing down the issues in contention to ASU’s rejection of IPPIS.

The statement reads partly,  “As of today our members are being owed three  months salaries while in some universities our members have not received salary for six  months.

“In addition, the government through the  Office of the Accountant General of the Federation have criminally withheld five months (February-June, 2020) Check-Off deducted from our  members’ salaries. We are therefore surprised that MoL&E could go on air to present information which he has not verified as truth to the unsuspecting public.

“The ongoing total, comprehensive and indefinite strike action by our union will continue if this propaganda and lies against ASUU persists.” Punch