FG casts doubt on UTAS proposed by ASUU

 

The Federal Government has given an update on the integrity test conducted on the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said the integrity test being conducted on UTAS is being carried out by the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Ngige said that even if the UTAS which was proposed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, passes the test, the union still won’t have the fund to procure the necessary hardware for its implementation.

“I am waiting for the NITDA’s full report. The preliminary report they gave me shows the software integrity test will take them about six to eight weeks and after that, we go to the hardware.

“But the big issue is, who will provide the hardware?

“ASUU does not have the finances to do so. Has the government budgeted for it now as we speak? So, that one is a major problem. But we don’t have to dissuade anybody, we don’t have to tell anybody not to carry on, we like local content development, we need our things to be home grown. So, we are really encouraging them,” Ngige said.

The country’s university lecturers have been at home since March over disputes with the federal government regarding funding and payment system.