The stoppage of the salaries of lecturers in federal government’s universities over non-compliance with the order to enroll in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is one of the trending stories in the Nigerian press on Friday.
The Guardian reported that the Federal Government on Thursday made good its threat to stop the salaries of all its workers, especially members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who are not featured on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
ASUU, which had declared a strike notice over the issue on Thursday, called off the planned strike and sought a soft landing in resolving the issue, Tribune newspaper reported.
President Muhammadu Buhari had while presenting the 2020 budget proposal to the National Assembly, declared: “I have directed the stoppage of the salary of any Federal Government staff that is not captured on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform by the end of October 2019.”
ChannelsTV reported that Mr. Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, has filed a suit against the Nigerian Army, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, praying for an order to stop the planned kick-off of the Operation Positive Identification by the Nigeria Army.
The Punch posted that the Defence Headquarters has said the Operation Positive Identification, which will begin on Friday (today), is meant to flush out “foreign combatants infiltrating our borders and conducting attacks”.
The newspaper also quoted the acting Director, Defence Information, Col Onyema Nwachukwu, as saying in an interview that the exercise would focus mainly on bandits and criminals.
The Sun said that Chinese government has completed its multi-million naira Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, which involves granting access to satellite television to 1,000 villages across all 774 local governments in Nigeria.
The Nation reported that international auctioneers are to sell the $40 million (about N14.4 billion) jewellery recovered from former Petroleum Resources Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
ThisDay said that President Muhammadu Buhari has met with the United States’ Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and requested for additional capital from the US development finance institutions to upgrade critical infrastructure in Nigeria.
The Daily Trust reported that the Lagos State Police Command yesterday raided a rehabilitation centre, rescued 12 chained inmates and arrested a pastor, Joesph Ojo, who was allegedly using his church for rehabilitation activities.
Pastor Ojo was said to have been arrested sequel to a tip-off by the president of a non-government organisation, Eagle Crime Awareness and Prevention Initiative.
MM/GIK/APA