As the strike action embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) enters its fourth week, the Federal Government, on Wednesday, said it still awaits the upgraded Universities Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) from the union.
The software, which ASUU wants to replace the Integrated Personnel and Payment Information System (IPPIS) as an alternative platform for the payment of the salaries of its members was said to have failed previous integrity tests.
Speaking at post-Federal Executive Council (FEC) briefing at the presidential villa, Abuja, the Director-General (DG) of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, insisted that UTAS has failed the necessary tests that should qualify it to be used as a payment platform.
His explanation followed questions directed to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami on the progress of the UTAS platform.
The Minister had said that when he received a letter from the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, requesting a review of the submission and the technical ability of the software of the system, he forwarded the request to the NITDA.
While noting that he provided the agency’s findings to the relevant bodies, he said: “They (NITDA) conducted their own analysis, their own testing and sent same back to me, and I drafted a cover letter I forwarded to the Minister of Labour and Employment and I copied the two Ministers of Education, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and also the office of the Accountant General of the Federation and even NUC (National University Commission).
Pantami, however, directed the NITDA DG to provide explanation as the agency directly involved following which Inuwa disclosed that they were still waiting for ASUU.
The NITDA DG reiterated that UTAS failed user acceptance, security vulnerability and stress tests.
He explained: “When we received the request to review UTAS, you know, building complex system like UTAS that involves employees’ personal data, and also payment system, we have to subject it to do best practice tests before approving. Normally, when we are reviewing that kind of system, we perform three tests”.
