Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it has rejected submission of Bank Verification Number (BVN) as a condition for payment of February and March withheld salaries of lecturers in Federal Universities.

Mr Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU President, said this in an interview with NAN on Wednesday in Abuja.

The Federal Government on Tuesday in a statement has approved payment of February and March withheld salaries of lecturers in universities, who were yet to enrol on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

ASUU embarked on an indefinite strike on March 23, over failure of the government to address outstanding issues raised in FGN-ASUU 2019 Memorandum of Action and opposition of ASUU to IPPIS.

ASUU had rejected the application of force on its members to join the IPPIS in spite of its offer of a more credible alternative to IPPIS.

According to Ogunyemi, “we have been told that the Federal Government has approved payment of withheld salaries of our members for February and March.

“We appreciate Mr President for doing that. However, withholding February and March salaries was unnecessary in the first place.

“In the second place, the issue is the condition attached to it, which does not go down well with our members, which is the supply of their BVN.

“Our members are being paid in the past without asking for their BVN.

“So, we have reasons to suspect that this is an indirect way to get us back to IPPIS, which our members rejected.

“So, these are things we are going to clarify with the government whenever we are called for a meeting,” he said.

Guardian