IPPIS: FG Tells ASUU No Agency Must Oppose Payment System

The Federal Government again on Thursday hit at the Academic Staff Union of Universities for opposing the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System of the Federal Government, saying no government agency must resist it. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning , Zainab Ahmed, who stated this at the budget defence secession organised by the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja , described ASUU ’s opposition as misplaced . ASUU has opposed a directive by President Muhammadu Buhari, who at the 2020 budget presentation in the National Assembly on October 8, ordered that all public sector workers to register for the IPPIS to save cost and fight corruption. But the lecturers on Monday opposed the Federal Government, saying the IPPIS negated the law on university autonomy . The Accountant- General of the Federation , Alhaji Ahmed Idris, countered ASUU, saying its position was an endorsement of corruption. The IPPIS , which was introduced in 2007 , is aimed at centralising payroll and payment systems, facilitating convenient staff remuneration with minimal wastage as well as aiding manpower training and budgeting. You can’ t be staff members of all varsities , minister tells lecturers On Thursday, the Finance Minister, Ahmed, faulted ASUU , saying no government must resist the IPPIS . She said , “ The resistance to the IPPIS is misplaced as far as I am concerned because there is no agency of government that must resist it. It must be treated with utmost importance. The universities and some medical institutions have some peculiarities . “ For instance, a medical officer in the public service can consult in different hospitals, but he should still have one primary point of employment. “ A lecturer , based on the approval given by the minister, is also allowed to lecture in more than one universities. That, however , does not mean that he should feature in all the institutions as a staff member. “ At best, there would be special allowances that would be due to them for those extra-work. The allowances should , however , not be included in the payroll . “ We have been discussing with them and we are arranging peculiar allowances for them too. This is to make sure that the extra- work they do , according to the limits that is allowed, is provided for in the payroll . “ They have understood now that their concerns would be addressed and they have started working with us. As we speak , the Accountant General staff are on the field trying to capture the last batch of the staff into the IPPIS . ” The Minister said the IPPIS had been extremely beneficial because the Federal Government had been able to save up to about N250 bn from the exercise . She said , “ The savings would be more when we integrate the HI component of the IPPIS which is controlled by the Head of Service. “ It is a record of staff . When a worker retires from the service , the system will automatically log him out . “ At the moment, we await instructions before we log out retired workers . Some people have retired but they are still on the payroll . There are lots of cleaning up that we have to do . We have been working with the Head of Service to fast- track that integration.