Nigerian Military Begins Enrollment in IPPIS July

The enrolment of the Nigerian Army in the central pay system, Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) scheme begins on July 30.
The federal government said it has concluded arrangements to begin the enrolment of all military personnel.

The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris, said on Tuesday in Abuja, at the sensitisation ceremony for the enrolment of the Nigerian military on the scheme.

Represented by Mr. Usman Kudu, Director, Funds, Idris said the exercise was to create sufficient awareness among the military personnel on their roles and objectives towards ensuring successful enrolment and implementation of IPPIS.

“This occasion is also to provide opportunity to disabuse your mind of any erroneous impression about this laudable project.

“I will like to assure the military that the officials to be engaged in this enrolment exercise will be officers of high integrity from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to ensure data security and confidentiality,” he said.

Idris said that a joint committee on the enrolment of the Nigerian military into IPPIS was inaugurated on March 28, adding that it had succeeded in fashioning out modalities and timelines for the enrolment.

He said that the objectives of the scheme were the centralisation of the database of all federal public servants, eradication of ghost workers and removal of wastages.

He added that the system enhances maintenance of the integrity, security of data and easy retrieval of personnel records.

“The benefits emanating from this implementation have been enormous since, as we speak, all emoluments are timely processed and payments easily made.
“Deductions to co-operatives and other third party stakeholders are duly and timely remitted.

“Substantial savings have been made by blocking leakages that had hitherto caused serious financial strains on the public purse,” he said.

The Chief of Army Finance Corps, Brig.-Gen. Adeleke Adekoya, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC), had in 2016 instructed all military personnel to enrol in the system.

He, however, assured Idris that the military would cooperate with the OAGF to ensure compliance and a hitch-free exercise.

During the question and answer session, participants relayed their fears about perceived issues the enrolment on the system would come with.

They recalled that the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had incomplete salaries when they were enrolled and sought assurance that theirs would not be like that.

The participants were taken through a step by step approach on enrolment and were assured that only statutory deductions such as tax for officers and 2.5 per cent of basic salary for National Housing Fund (NHF) would be made on their salaries.

IPPIS, which began with seven Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in 2007, is one of the federal government’s public finance reform aimed at determining the actual strength of its workers and help with budgeting and annual planning.(NAN)