10 Months After, FG Unable to Implement Directive on Exemption of Varsity Staff from IPPIS

James Emejo in Abuja

The federal government is yet to exempt universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions of learning from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) after it took the decision 10 months ago, THISDAY can report.

In December 2023, the Minister of the Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced government’s decision to remove university staff from the controversial payroll system after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

However, several months after the government’s approval for the exemption of the affected institutions, the directive was yet to be implemented, a situation that has led to non-payment of salaries of new staff in particular, according to THISDAY findings.

In acceding to the demands of the university community, the federal government had agreed that the IPPIS does not afford tertiary institutions the freedom to run their affairs.

Idris said: “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated personnel payroll and information system. You will recall that the university authorities and others have been clamouring for exempting the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.

“Today, the Council has graciously approved that going forward, the universities, as the Honorable Minister of Education has said and other tertiary institutions, the polytechnics and colleges of education will be taken off the IPPIS.

“What that means in simple language is that the university authorities and other tertiary institutions will now pay their personnel from their own end instead of relying on the IPPIS.”

Also, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said the move was to allow for the efficient running of public educational institutions nationwide.

He argued that Wednesday’s move is not connected to the integrity of IPPIS, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, or other similar systems advocated by various bodies.

Mamman said: “Simply, the president and the council are just concerned about the efficiency of management of the universities, and so it has nothing to do with integrity or platform options.

The non-implementation of the directive issued nearly a year ago continues to pose challenges in the tertiary institutions as the non-payment of salaries has reportedly grounded academic activities, resulting in the current threats of another round of strike action by university lecturers.

A source told THISDAY that payment of salaries to new staff recently employed by most academic institutions had been particularly impossible following the tardiness on the part of government to effectively implement the exemption order.

Contacted, however, Director, Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr. Bawa Mokwa, told THISDAY that the treasury was awaiting further guidance from the Office of the Head of Service as well as the Federal Ministry of Finance on who should be removed from the IPPIS payroll.

He said these agencies had embarked on an audit of the university personnel with a view to ascertaining the actual number of staff to be exempted from the system.

Bawa further explained that until this was done, the OAGF could not proceed on the exemption order.

He, however, said an inter-agency commitment was set up last month to work towards the implementing the government’s directive.

In October 2006, the federal government introduced IPPIS as one of its reform initiatives for the effective storage of personnel records, saying the move would improve transparency and accountability.

IPPIS, which was expanded to cover all ministries, departments and agencies that draw personnel costs from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), had been touted by the government as a means of saving billions of Naira and improving transparency in salary payments.

However, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body for lecturers in Nigerian universities, resisted the implementation of IPPIS within universities, arguing that it undermined university autonomy and does not accommodate the unique nature of academic work.

ASUU had instead proposed an alternative system called the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), which it believes better addresses the peculiarities of the university system, such as sabbatical leave, adjunct engagements and part-time contracts.

ASUU and other academic unions also contended that IPPIS centralisation will impedes the governing councils’ ability to effectively manage personnel and payroll, affecting strategic planning and the autonomy of universities.

The development had resulted to tensions and a protracted standoff, with ASUU continuing to push for the adoption of UTAS over IPPIS, which they see as a foreign-imposed system unsuitable for the Nigerian tertiary education sector.

This had led to strikes and disruptions in academic activities, including an eight-month hiatus in educational activities that ended in 2022.

The ivory towers have recently warned of another industrial action, partly as a result of issues relating to IPPIS exemption.