Uche Usim, Abuja

Workers of various tertiary institutions who have not been captured on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) are in for a tough time as the federal government has suspended the payment of their salaries and emoluments with effect from January.

The latest arm-twisting strategy, meant to compel the workers to quickly get enrolled on IPPIS was contained in a letter by the Director of IPPIS at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr. Olusegun Olufehinti, where he clearly requested the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, to halt the processing January salary for tertiary education staff who have refused to be captured on the platform.

The letter dated January 21, 2020, with reference number: OAGF/IPPIS/19/11/54 and entitled: “Request for Stoppage of Release of Funds for January Salaries to Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education,” was addressed to the minister.

“I am directed to inform you that the preparation of January 2020 salary payroll and warrants of the federal tertiary institutions are ongoing and will be ready for submission on or before January 29, 2020. This is to give effect to the directive of the federal government that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) drawing personal cost for the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) should be enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

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“In order to actualise this directive, you are please requested not to release funds for payments of the tertiary institutions as their salaries will henceforth be paid on the IPPIS Platform with effect from January 2020,” part of the letter read.

Recall that after initial resistance, federal universities and colleges of education agreed to get enrolled on IPPIS in an exercise that commenced on November 25 and ended on December 7, 2019.

Prior to that, raised the alarm over an alleged misinformation being circulated by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to justify their opposition to enrolling on IPPIS, insisting it was a policy of government for which Mr. President directed that all MDAs drawing their salary from Consolidated Revenue Funds (CRF) should join the IPPIS by the end of October 2019.

Prelude to that, several meetings have been held with the leadership of Universities comprising of Vice Chancellors (VCs), Registrars, Bursars, National University Commission (NUC) and the four Unions (NASU, NAAT, SSANU, and ASUU) where the workings of IPPIS system have been explained and demonstrated as to accommodate all government approved peculiarities of tertiary institutions such as Rtetirement age, sabbatical, visiting and other peculiarities.