The Federal Government has blamed payments disruptions in federal universities and other tertiary institutions on ‘’hasty and poorly coordinated’’ switch from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
The IPPIS is a centralised payroll system developed to ensure that government employees are paid accurately and promptly. It aims to eliminate ghost workers, curb payroll fraud, and ensure accountability in salary disbursement.
The GIFMS is an IT-based system designed to manage public funds more effectively by integrating the budgeting, accounting, and reporting processes of the federal government.
The government also pointed out that overpayment of salaries, irregular recruitment, non-remittance of mandatory deductions, violation of payroll integration processes, and disbursement of unauthorised allowances have persisted for years in the universities and others.
Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF) Shamseldeen Ogunjimi and Auditor-General for the Federation Shaakaa Chira made these known at a one-day interactive session with vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and regulatory agencies of federal tertiary institutions in Abuja yesterday.
The meeting focused on challenges in payroll processing and salary payments.
Ogunjimi, who became accountant-general in March this year, said the decision to bypass established technical transition protocols triggered widespread complaints about delayed salaries, unremitted third-party deductions, and pension contributions.
Ogunjimi revealed that since he assumed office, he has been inundated with petitions from Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), state Internal Revenue Services, microcredit organisations, and labour unions over persistent non-remittance of statutory deductions.
He said that “in response to these developments, an Interministerial Technical Committee was constituted to design a smooth migration strategy.”
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The report of that committee, according to him, ‘’ recommended that the October 2024 payroll be completed using the IPPIS platform, while preparations for transitioning to GIFMIS should begin immediately.”
Ogunjimi said: “The committee outlined that all staff records in tertiary institutions should be validated and uploaded to GIFMIS by October 31, 2024.
‘’It also specified that access to the personnel management line on the new platform be granted to the relevant institutional role players by that date. October 31 was fixed as the terminal date for all payroll operations under IPPIS.”
He added that the committee proposed that trial payrolls be run for November and December using IPPIS for data preparation, but actual payments be effected through GIFMIS.
A final validation and sign-off by IPPIS, according to him, was expected to be December 31, 2024.
The report further called on the Federal Government to clear all outstanding salary arrears, promotion entitlements, and third-party obligations, while urging full compliance by institutions with all relevant rules and procedures.
The accountant-general lamented that “failure to comply with the recommendation to prepare a trial payroll for the remaining two months (November and December) of the year 2024, along with IPPIS and the abrupt migration to GIFMIS in the last quarter of the year, heightened some of the challenges experienced.”
In his goodwill message, the Auditor-General for the Federation, Chira, said it was worrisome that many financial management issues, including overpayment of salaries and irregular recruitments in federal tertiary institutions, had persisted and now require urgent attention.
“The prevalence of these issues often results in audit queries, surcharges, loss of public funds, and in some instances, reputational damage to the affected institutions,” Chira warned.
He urged the institutions to be candid in sharing their operational difficulties, such as delays in IPPIS-GIFMIS integration, errors in the classification of deductions, and slow third-party remittances.
Chira also called on the institutions to support ongoing reforms, stressing the need for a payroll and accounting system that reflects the operational realities and complexity of tertiary education