IPPIS: Exit of varsity based unions and the sudden silence

Since the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, as the payment mode for workers under the government employ, there have been pockets of complaints among the workers.

Although some of the workers endured the inconvenience, those in the tertiary institutions could not hold their frustrations.

Before the introduction of IPPIS, workers in tertiary institutions were paid through Government Integrated Financial Management System, GIFMIS.

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.

The most vocal voices against IPPIS were the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP.

The unions through their various leaderships complain of irregularities in payment of salaries; inaccurate capturing; lack of implementation of allowances; remittance of loans to cooperative organisations; non-implementation of responsibility and hazard allowances; third party deductions, such as tax, pension, union, bank loans; non-use of pay slip; lack of motivation, poor productivity and other challenges.

The unions on various occasions have threatened to down tools if the government fails to address the highlighted irregularities associated with the use of the platform for payment. As an alternative, ASUU came up with its own payment platform, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS). The union told the government to replace IPPIS with UTAS.

The IPPIS is a department under the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and responsible for payment of salaries and wages directly to federal government employees’ bank accounts after appropriate deductions and remittances. With the introduction of the IPPIS, no university lecturer under the government employ can collect salary from different universities. 

On their side, two of the universities non teaching staff unions, the Senior State Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, through the Joint Action Committee, JAC, introduced another payment platform, University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System, U3PS.

The platform which was described as a multitenant system that accommodates the peculiarities in the Nigerian University System, was presented to the former Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu on May 10, 2022.

At the presentation, Mr Yusuf Adeyemi, the System Programmer, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, explained the features of the payment system. He said “The system handles all employees’ financial records in a hassle-free, automated fashion. This includes employees’ salaries, bonuses, deductions, net pay, generation of pay-advice and other financial reports using accounting best practices.