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Tag: IPPIS

  • Salaries shortfall: Why FG workers felt shortchanged – OAGF

    Salaries shortfall: Why FG workers felt shortchanged – OAGF

    The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has clarified that there are no shortfalls in salaries paid to federal workers in January and February.

    The OAGF made the clarification in a statement issued by Bawa Mokwa, the Director, Press and Public Relations on Friday in Abuja.

    Mokwa said that the salaries that workers received in January and February were their normal salaries after the various arrears that were paid from October to December 2024 had been exhausted.

    He said that it was imperative to make clarifications on the purported shortfall in January and February salaries in order to ease any anxiety in the minds of workers.

    According to him, various salary arrears have been paid in the last quarter of 2024, namely, minimum wage arrears, 25 per cent/35 per cent increase in salary arrears, and wage award arrears.

    “All these arrears were paid from the month of October 2024 to December 2024. This made salaries to increase abnormally in the last quarter of 2024.

    “Payment of normal salaries after exhausting the various arrears began in January 2025, which made some workers think that they were shortchanged, when in actual sense, it was their real salaries ” he said.

    He said that what was paid in January and February 2025 shall continue to be the salaries until when the Federal Government reviews the salaries again.

    The director said that there were cases of overpayments in the month of December 2024 due to system error.

    “The error has been corrected and deductions in respect of the overpayments from the salaries of affected workers is on-going and shall continue until such overpayments were fully recovered,” he said.

    On the payment of promotion arrears, Mokwa said that the exercise was handled by a standing committee on promotion and salary arrears in the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF).

    According to him, the BOF compiles and vets all salary and promotion arrears from various MDAs before such is channeled in batches to IPPIS for payment.

    He said that IPPIS had fully paid batches 1 to 6 and was awaiting more batches from the BOF for payment.

    Mokwa reiterated the determination of the OAGF to efficiently manage the IPPIS in view of its importance to workers.

    He advised workers with genuine complaints about their salaries to follow the formal processes to get such resolved as quickly as possible.

  • No directive for workers to change salary accounts – AGF

    No directive for workers to change salary accounts – AGF

    The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, has said that no directive was issued to workers to change their salary accounts.

    Madein gave the clarification in a statement by Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).

    She was reacting to a viral news that workers had been asked to change a particular financial institutions registered on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform as their salary accounts.

    The AGF said that the IPPIS office gives utmost priority to the welbeing of workers, and will not issue any directive that will mislead, misguide, or cause them unnecessary panic.

    She said that whenever there was an application for change of salary account, it was always a personal decision of the worker concerned.

    “The IPPIS Office has not issued any general directive to this effect as there is no reason to do so,” she said. .

    She tasked financial institutions to implement necessary strategies to boost customers’ confidence and guarantee efficient fulfilment of their obligations to persons whose salaries are domiciled with them.

    According to her, there are agencies that are statutorily mandated to determine the health and viability of financial institutions.

    She expressed optimism that those agencies were up to their tasks. She advised workers that may have genuine reasons to change their salary accounts on the IPPIS platform to follow the official procedures.

  • Why we reject IPPIS, GIFMIS – ASUU

    Why we reject IPPIS, GIFMIS – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has explained why it rejected two payment platforms of the federal government and insisted on University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), it created as alternative.

    ASUU had rejected the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), a platform the Federal Government uses to pay no fewer than 789,000 of its workers in various sectors of the economy. ASUU members are also currently on the platform.

    The union had also rejected Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS), the platform the federal government recently approved that ASUU payment should transit to, with effect from November

    In an exclusive interview the NAN on Sunday in Abuja, the ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said that the union’s stance is in line with the autonomy of the nation’s tertiary institutions.

    According to him UTAS conforms with the statutory provision that the university’s finances should be managed by its Governing Council.

    “ASUU’s position is that the finances of the university should be managed by the Governing Council. That’s what the law says. It does not says by the Accountant General’s office.

    ”Every year, the governing council directs the Vice Chancellor to defend its budget at the National Assembly.When the budget is approved including salary, remuneration, overhead, it will go to the President for assent and it becomes a law.

    ”That money should be released to the Governing council to pay its staff members. That is the autonomy of the university we are talking about, as stipulated in the law,” he said

    Osodeke stressed that the universities should be given autonomy, to be able to plan for its staff members’ recruitment and how to pay their salaries.

    He recalled that the Union rejected IPPIS because its implementation does not only erodes university’s autonomy but meddles with its internal affairs and violates Section 24A of the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act 2003.

    Osodeke also faulted the recent guidelines by the federal government detailing the process for the formal exit of Federal Tertiary Institutions (FTIs) from IPPIS.

    In a circular issued on Oct. 8, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, said the payroll for FTIs in the month of October 2024 will still be processed on the IPPIS platform.

    She added that, starting from November, the payrolls will be processed by the institutions themselves and then be checked by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation’s (OAGF)’s IPPIS department.

    According to her, the payment will be made through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform.

    Osodeke, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the directives, stating that the AGF was playing games with the union.

    “GIFMIS is still an appendage of IPPIS. When you look at the circular, paragraph two says after universities have finished preparation, it will still come to OAGF IPPIS, for verification before it is paid by GIFMIS, which means nothing has changed.

    ”As at now, no university knows who is being paid what. IPPIS has been paying people who have been sacked, people who are non staff members and people who have left the university system.

    “The Vice Chancellors cannot discipline any erring official.Even when you are being disciplined, the IPPIS or GIFMIS will still be paying your salary and that is what we are saying,” he said

    Osodeke said the insinuation in certain quarters that ASUU was insisting on UTAS, its own developed solution, to shield lecturers teaching in more than one institution, was misconceived

    According to him, the establishment Act of University permits lecturers to teach in two institutions, but with laid down guidelines

    “As stipulates by the law, a lecturers can serve as adjunct in another university, they can also work as part time in another university.

    ”They can serve as visiting professor in another university and this is the practice all over the world.

    ”For example, if you have a Professor who is highly knowledgeable in a particular field working in one university and another university has no one to handle such programme, what will they do?.

    ‘”That university will approach the other and appeal to the lecturer to come and teach their students on part time basis, which might be once or two times in a month.

    ”The institution is not expected to pay full salary to the lecturer, but allowances for the part time job.That is what it is. It is in the law and it is all over.

    Osodeke also explained that lecturers do go on sabbatical; meaning, a lecturer, who has taught for six years, could apply for one year leave to go to other university or institution to teach.

    According to him, it is not a new development, but the only caveat is that the maximum number of university a lecturer can practice such is two.Teaching beyond two institutions is tantamount to breaking the law.

    ”It is a global standard and that is why we have visiting professors from London, Ghana, among others coming here to impact their knowledge.

    ”When you look at UTAS that we developed, any lecturer who has gone to sabbatical for more than the approved number, will be rejected automatically.

    ”Also, any lecturer who has not met the six years requirement for teaching and want to go on sabbatical leave would be rejected. All these have been built into the UTAS,” he said.

    The ASUU President noted, that the lack of exchange of knowledge by lecturers from one institution to another was partly responsible for the low ranking of Nigerian universities in the global ranking assessment.

    Osodeke also described as misleading, the claim by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) that UTAS had failed three integrity tests.

    The ASUU President said UTAS is a credible and trusted payment platform that captures the inherent peculiarities in the country’s university system.

    According to Osodeke, NITDA, in an earlier integrity test conducted on UTAS, had written a report scoring the platform, 97.3 per cent, but later recounted.

    He insisted that in the tests conducted by the agency, IPPIS came a distant last to UTAS and wondered why the government insisted on using the IPPIS.

    Osodeke said that ASUU’s planned strike notice over the payment platform and other issues was still standing but the union had only given the government space to conclude on the new renegotiation committee that was set up.

  • Remove universities from IPPIS – ASUU urges FG

    Remove universities from IPPIS – ASUU urges FG

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has urged the Federal Government to fulfill its promise to remove its members from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    Dr Joshua Silas, the Chairman of ASUU, Federal University, Lokoja (FUL) chapter, made the call on Tuesday during a protest by members of the union at FUL campus in Felele, Lokoja.

    Addressing newsmen after the protest, the chairman urged the federal government to implement the re-negotiations of 2009 agreements reached with the national ASUU to prevent resumption of the suspended industrial action.

    “We are carrying out these protests nationwide as directed by the national body of ASUU in solidarity to urge the federal government to promptly meet our demands.

    “The government has failed to meet with our demands regarding the 2009 re-negotiation agreements with the national body of ASUU as promised.

    “A lot has been done and government promised to meet our needs but since 2009 to 2024 till now, nothing has been done because government has failed to honour the agreements.

    “We suspended the last strike in October 2022 with the hope that government would resolve all the outstanding issues, but till today June 25, 2024, nothing has been done.

    “The protest is to call the attention of the general public to be aware and bear us witness that ASUU has been patient enough with the government.

    “Enough is enough; this is totally unacceptable because many of our members have died due to the present economic hardships.

    “We urge the government to do the needful because ASUU should not be blamed for any industrial action anytime from now,” Silas said.

    According to him, the agreements include the removal of ASUU from IPPIS, outstanding academic allowances, revitalization fund, payment of promotion arrears balance as well as withheld salaries, among others.

    Silas noted that the federal government had paid four months out of about eight months outstanding salaries remaining three and half months.

    The protest was carried out by the union members within all the faculties of institutions and terminated at the university gate with chanting of solidarity songs.

    They carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “Remove ASUU from IPPIS, “Release our withheld salaries”, Implement ASUU) FG agreements”, We are not Casual Workers”, among others

    NAN

  • FG vows to reform basic education sector

    FG vows to reform basic education sector

    Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, says the Federal Government will soon introduce proactive measures to transform the basic education sector.

    He stated this during a courtesy visit to Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, on Thursday in Yola.

    Mamman said that President Bola Tinubu has mandated the ministry to accord pririoty to the issue of out-of-school children to enhance access to quality education and raise standards in the sector.

    He, therefore, sought for the support of Adamawa government in that regard.

    In his remarks, Fintiri commended the Minister on the timely intervention, and assured full support to facilitate successful implementation of the programme in the state and the country at large

    He lauded the federal government over the removal of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), as well as payment of withheld salaries of the lecturers.

    Fintiri said that his administration had initiated sound education reform programmes, adding that the measure drastically reduced the menace of out-of-school children and Almajiri syndrome in the state.

  • IPPIS restores 8,000 civil servants delisted from payroll

    IPPIS restores 8,000 civil servants delisted from payroll

    The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) says some 8,000 federal civil servants, of those delisted from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for infractions, have been restored.

    ASCSN’s General Secretary, Mr Joshua Apebo, made the disclosure, on Wednesday, during a get together in Lagos.

    It was reported that the Federal Government had in September delisted more than 17,000 workers from the IPPIS platform for allegedly failing to comply with verification spanning over five years.

    However, following the intervention of ASCSN, the government, through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, began the verification of the 17,000 civil servants in October.

    Apebo said, ”As at yesterday (Dec. 19, 2023) over 8,000 civil servants that were delisted, their names have been returned to the IPPIS and the government promised that it is going to pay December salary along with three months arrears.”

    The general secretary also said that the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria had submitted the list of committee members for the negotiation of the minimum wage to the government.

    According to him, the committee will be inaugurated in January 2024 to commence the negotiation.

    “The last minimum wage was inaugurated in April 2019 and the rule says every five years; so, by April 2024, it would be five years. So, I hope before then, it will be concluded, “ he said.

  • SSANU reacts over exemption of tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    SSANU reacts over exemption of tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has commended the Federal Government for the exemption of all tertiary institutions from the the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, National President of SSANU, said this in a communique issued on Monday in Abuja.

    The communique was issued at the end of the 46th National Executive Council (NEC) of the association held in Federal University of Technology, Mina, Niger state.

    According to Ibrahim, NEC in session commended the Federal Government on the removal of universities and other tertiary institutions from IPPIS.

    “NEC, however, encourages government to critically consult Management of Universities and labour unions on workable, reliable, seamless and acceptable approach.

    “This is in transiting to the new regime in order to capture the peculiarities of university workers.

    “This is with a view to forestalling the complicated problems that plagued the use of IPPIS.

    “NEC, therefore, urges the government to consider improving the old system with some latest features in the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System, (U3PS) payment solution,” he said.

    He also said NEC acknowledged the approval by the government to pay the four months salaries of its members withheld as a result of the last industrial action embarked upon by the union.

    He, therefore, urged the government to pay the money without further delay as it was already losing confidence of its members in government.

    The SSANU president, however, demanded for the implementation of the 25 and 35 per cent wage increase for university workers which had been captured in the budget before the end of 2023.

    Ibrahim added that NEC urges the federal government to commence payment of the outstanding arrears of October and November 2023 salaries forthwith.

    “NEC in session also observed that some of its members are yet to be paid arrears of the National Minimum Wage, which was approved in 2018 despite the efforts of the Union.

    “NEC calls on the government to, as a matter of urgency, release funds for payment for those omitted universities,” he said.

    He said the omitted universities include Federal University ,Otuoke, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Federal University, Dutsima.

    Others were the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Federal University, Gashua, Yobe, Federal University Kashere, and the University of Maiduguri, among others.

  • JUST IN: FG removes tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    JUST IN: FG removes tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    The Federal Government has removed tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with immediate effect.

    Similarly, the institutions are now to recruit their personnel without recourse to the Office of the Head of Service of the federation to reduce the bureaucracy involved in such exercises.

    The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who disclosed this at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, said this was part of government efforts to reduce the challenges facing tertiary institutions across the country.

    ‘’Today at council, a most important decision was taken concerning the education sector of the economy. The vexatious issue bordering the stakeholders in the sector, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), was settled.

    ‘’The payment of universities staff through IPPIS has been settled and they are now to use their platform to pay their staff.

    ‘’They are now to also recruit their staff through normal criteria. They will, however, continue to be supervised by the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission as is the practice,’’ he said.

    The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, also disclosed that the FEC approved the review of waivers by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in order to address the issue of loss of revenue.

    ‘’The Federal Government has approved the review of waiver by the Nigeria Customs Service which has been a thing of concern and loss of scarce revenue. The service has observed that the waiver has affected it targets.’’

    He said that necessary recommendations would be made to address the issue of Customs waivers in the country, adding that appropriate measures are expected from such deliberations going forward.

    The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, said that the FEC approved two contracts for the sector, worth over N4.32 billion.

    The first contract, he said, was for the purchase of navigation communication and remote access devices for the Port Harcourt International Airport, worth N2.22 billion.

    ‘’The second contract was for a technical support to maintain the new terminals in four international airports of Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt, worth N4.1 billion. These contracts are made for the comfort of travellers in the country,’’ he said.

  • NASS to remove tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    NASS to remove tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    The House of Representatives has restated its commitment to remove tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), to enhance lecturers’ welfare and reduce the brain drain syndrome.

    Dr. Abbas Tajudeen, Speaker House of Representatives made this known on Thursday in Zaria at the 3rd International conference of the Gender Policy Unit, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.

    Tajudeen, represented by Dr. Abubakar Fulata, House Committee Chairman on Education, said the House would pursue the interest of academia and one of those issues in contention was the issue of IPPIS.

    According to him, IPPIS is a single minded computer programme that is anti-intellectual, anti-education and completely ignorant of the issues involved.

    “It is our determination to ensure that universities, polytechnics and colleges of education are removed from IPPIS.

    “It is also our determination to make sure that education receives a substantial portion in the national budget at least to meet up with the United Nations requirement of 26 per cent of the National budget,’’ he said.

    The speaker said that regrettably the system had downgraded education in the country to a level where teachers` survival was put at risk.

    He said the National Assembly had an engagement with the vice-chancellors across the country, and they were made to understand that a professor’s take-home after deduction was less than N450, 000.

    The speaker described such a salary (N450, 000) for the university professors as embarrassing to the education sector.

    He said fighting poverty, gender inequality and insecurity was not merely a moral imperative but a fundamental necessity for the progress and prosperity of the nation.

    Abbas was also a recipient of the Award of Excellence in the fight against poverty, gender inequality and insecurity at the conference.

    Earlier, Prof. Kabiru Bala, Vice-Chancellor, ABU, said the conference was another step towards realising the ABU’s aspiration of becoming a world-class academic and research institution.

    Bala was represented by Prof. Ahmed Doko, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration.

    He said the conference provides an opportunity for the professionals in the academia, security, and other stakeholders to engage in critical discourse on implications of insecurity to the SDG goals.

    The three-day conference has `Gender and Security in Africa: the Implications for Sustainable Development Goals’ as its theme.

    The conference was jointly organised  by the Gender Policy Unit of the ABU and Center for Gender Studies of Bayero University, Kano.

  • FG to delist unverified workers from IPPIS October 27

    FG to delist unverified workers from IPPIS October 27

    The Federal Government says it will delist unverified civil servants from its payroll after the ongoing  Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) verification exercise by Oct 27.

    Mr Mohammed Ahmed, Director Communication, office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.

    The federal began the implementation of the IPPIS in  2007 with a view to attaining transparency, accuracy, safety and reliability in the management of Personnel Records.

    The initiative was also meant to  curtail avoidable excesses in personnel costs.

    The federal government had in September delisted over 17,000 government employees from the IPPIS platform for failing to comply with a verification exercises spanning over five years, before additional two-week grace was granted for the unverified officers.

    According to Ahmed, the office of the HOCSF, being the repository of official records and information on all public servants, was saddled with the responsibility of cleansing the record on the payroll system.

    “Driven by the government’s quest to curb ghost workers syndrome and block leakages through personnel cost, the implementation of IPPIS commenced with the Payroll module rather than the Human Resource component. “

    He explained that office of the HOCSF had conducted series of verification exercises, which some civil servants were unable to get captured.

    Consequent upon this, the director explained that some of the erring officers besieged the office of the HOCSF with pleas to be given the last opportunity to comply.

    “The portal was therefore, magnanimously reopened from Oct. 3 to 13, for them to update their records.

    “The officers were then asked to come to Abuja for the physical verification exercise as the office had already committed and exhausted the budgeted funds and unable to further deploy staff to the states for the exercise.

    “However, the verification of records of all civil servants will be finalised at the end of the ongoing exercise.

    “And any officer whose record could not be verified will be delisted from the payroll of government at the end of the two-week exercise on Friday Oct. 27, ” he explained.