The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Bola Tinubu, has approved the withdrawal of workers from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) at all public universities and other academic institutions.
Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, made the announcement while updating State House Correspondents on the meeting’s outcome.
The federal government stated in October that the implementation of IPPIS resulted in the elimination of around 70,000 ghost workers from the payroll.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had in 2020, gone on a eight-month strike due to disputes with the Federal Government regarding the payment platform opted for the University Transparency Account System (UTAS).
The IPPIS was introduced by the federal government in October 2006 as part of its reform initiatives to effectively store personnel records and promote transparency and accountability.
According to the minister, universities and other tertiary institutions in the country have been authorised to discontinue their use of IPPIS.
According to Idris: “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 the others have been clamouring for the exemption of the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.
“Today, council has graciously approved that. What that means is that going forward, the universities 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 be paying their own personnel from their own end instead of relying on the IPPIS.”
The Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman Tahir, the approval of the removal of universities and other tertiary institutions in the country from IPPIS allows schools to deal with the salary issues of their staff internally.
He said FEC took the decision because of its concern for efficiency and the management of the institutions.
According to him, apart from the opposition to the payment system by ASUU, the IPPS issue had proved time consuming for university vice chancellors, “dragging the efficiency of the management of the institutions.”
The minister explained that as the tertiary institutions are governed by laws, they should be allowed to exercise their autonomy.