Federal government has released guidelines for the removal of federal tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Gatekeepers News reports that federal government introduced IPPIS which is a centralised payroll system through office of the accountant-general in 2006 to manage the salaries of public sector employees.
Gatekeepers News reports that the platform which had steadily accommodated federal tertiary institutions by 2016 however became a subject of heated protests for many public tertiary institutions that alleged unilateral manipulation and fraud.
Administrators across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education opined that its centralised nature rules out the powers of provosts and governing councils since head of the civil service has the power to make decisions on what staffers are employed and when.
Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) proposed the Unified Treasury
Accounting System (UTAS) proposed as an alternative.
Accountant-general of the federation, Oluwatoyin Madein issued a circular effectively setting out a guideline for the removal of federal tertiary institutions from IPPIS payroll platform.
He noted that the move was approved by Federal Executive Council (FEC) for institutional autonomy and efficient payroll management.
The circular highlighted an exit strategy for tertiary institutions and mandated that the affected institutions immediately comply.
The AGF said the payroll for the public
institutions will be processed by the IPPIS for October ahead of the exit in November 2024.
He said the institutions would now process the payrolls themselves while IPPIS department of accountant-general’s office would validate them.
Madein added that payment will be through Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
Madein noted that institutions must fill out and submit GIFMIS enrolment forms to personnel handling payroll-related roles before October 21.
According to him; the forms will grant access to the personnel cost budget line for each institution on the GIFMIS platform.
On outstanding financial obligations that have been the subject of protests, the circular instructed federal tertiary institutions to compile data on promotion/salary arrears and forward them to the budget office of the federation for onward further processing and resolution.
Madein further noted that the bank details of the employees must be validated and uploaded on the GIFMIS platform within the specified timeframe.