Nigerian Government reportedly stops payment of salaries for lecturers not on IPPIS

The Federal government has reportedly asked the Ministry of Finance not to pay January salaries of lecturers and all workers of tertiary institutions who are not enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), a centralised payroll system.

According to the Cable, the accountant-general of the federation in a letter sent to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, instructed the Minister not to release funds meant for January salaries to tertiary institutions, saying payments would only be made to lecturers that have complied with the mandatory enrolment to the IPPIS platform.

“l 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 29th of January, 2020,” the letter read.

This is to give effect to the directive of the Federal Government that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies drawing Personnel Cost from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) should be enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

In order to actualize this directive, you are please requested not to release the Funds for payment of salaries to the Tertiary Institutions as their salaries will henceforth be paid on the IPPIS Platform with effect from January 2020.” the letter read in part

The directive on non-payment of January salaries comes three weeks after President Buhari hosted members of The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the presidential villa in Abuja over the IPPIS controversy. ASUU had rejected the federal government’s directive for workers to enroll in the centralised payroll system, saying it would affect the autonomy of universities.The body have threaneted to go on an indefinite strike if the Federal government insists on IPPIS enrolment of its members. 

The union had instead proposed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) “to address the peculiar cases of lecturers in the payment of salaries and other emoluments”. 

But the federal government has repeatedly insisted that lecturers still in the Federal government's payroll must get enrolled in the IPPIS.