BY Stephen Kenechi
The federal government has rolled out guidelines for the removal of federal tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The IPPIS is a centralised payroll system the federal government introduced in 2006 to manage the salaries of public sector employees.
Administered by the office of the accountant-general, the platform had increasingly accommodated federal tertiary institutions by 2016.
It 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 argued that its centralised nature eroded the powers of provosts and governing councils since the head of the civil service often had to determine what staffers were employed and when.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) proposed the Unified Treasury Accounting System (UTAS) proposed as an alternative.
Oluwatoyin Madein, the accountant-general of the federation, has now issued a circular effectively setting out a guideline for the removal of federal tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payroll platform.
The move, he said, was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for institutional autonomy and efficient payroll management.
The circular highlighted an exit strategy for the tertiary institutions and mandated that the affected institutions immediately comply.
Madein 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 the IPPIS department of accountant-general’s office vets them.
The accountant-general said payment will be through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
Madein said institutions must fill out and submit GIFMIS enrolment forms to personnel handling payroll-related roles before October 21.
He said 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 said the bank details of the employees must be validated and uploaded on the GIFMIS platform within the specified timeframe.
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