The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IPPIS

  • Fed Govt promises faithful implementation of President’s directive on IPPIS

    Fed Govt promises faithful implementation of President’s directive on IPPIS

    The Federal Government has reassured tertiary institutions that it will faithfully implement the directive of President Bola Tinubu on exiting workers of tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform.

     The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman (SAN), announced this in his office yesterday in Abuja when he hosted the leadership of the Committee of Provost of Colleges of Education in Nigeria.

    President Tinubu had, on December 13, 2023, approved the exception of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members and other workers in public tertiary institutions from IPPIS.

    The enrollment of public tertiary institutions’ workers into the IPPIS platform had been a subject of contention between the Federal Government and unions in tertiary institutions, leading to strikes by ASUU in particular.

     But in an attempt to create industrial harmony for the smooth running of the institutions, President Tinubu directed that workers of public universities and other tertiary institutions captured under the IPPIS be removed from the payment platform.

    Read Also: I’ll take on your concerns one by one, Tinubu assures South-south indigenes

     Offering more explanations on the presidential directive, after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last December, Information and National Orientation Minister Muhammed Idris had said: “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have got a very big relief from the IPPIS…”

     In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, the minister, at a meeting with the leadership of the committee of Provost of Colleges of Education in Nigeria, said the ministry would facilitate the full implementation of the presidential directive on IPPIS as it affects tertiary institutions in the country.

     Mamman also promised a consistent and positive interface with the committee to ensure industrial peace and harmony in the nation’s colleges of education.

     Also, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, lauded the positive attitude of the leadership of the colleges of education.

     He said the ministry would reciprocate the gesture in order to ensure a harmonious working relationship between the ministry and all colleges of education nationwide.            

  • FG assures of faithful implementation of Tinubu’s directive on IPPIS

    FG assures of faithful implementation of Tinubu’s directive on IPPIS

    The federal government has reassured tertiary institutions that it would faithfully implement the directive of President Bola Tinubu, on exiting the staff of tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform.

    Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, disclosed this in his office in Abuja when he received the leadership of the committee of Provost of Colleges of Education in Nigeria.

    It would be recalled that President Tinubu had on 13th December 2023, approved the exception of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other staff of public tertiary institutions from IPPIS.

    The enrollment of public tertiary institutions’ staff on the IPPIS platform had been a subject of contention between the Federal Government and unions in tertiary institutions, leading to strike action by ASUU in particular.

    But in an attempt to create industrial harmony for the smooth running of the institutions, President Tinubu directed that the staff of public universities and other tertiary institutions captured in IPPIS, be removed from the payment platform.

    Offering more explanations on the presidential directive, after the Federal Executive Council meeting in December last year, Minister of Information and National Orientation Muhammed Idris said: “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated payroll and personnel information system.

    Read Also: Exemption of ASUU from IPPIS unfair, say civil servants

    “You will recall that the university authorities and the others have been clamouring for the exemption of the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.

    “Today, council has graciously approved that. What that means is that going forward, the universities, as the Minister of Education has said, and other tertiary institutions, the polytechnics and colleges of education, will be taken off the IPPIS.

    “What that means in simple language is that the university authorities and other tertiary institutions will now be paying their own personnel from their own end instead of relying on the IPPIS.”

    In a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Ben. Goong Prof. Mamman said the ministry would do everything possible within the ambit of the law to facilitate the full implementation of the presidential directive on IPPIS as it affects tertiary institutions in the country.

    Mamman also promised a consistent and positive interface with the committee to ensure industrial peace and harmony in the nation’s colleges of education.

    The Committee of Provosts of Colleges of Education Nationwide is made up of Provosts of Federal, States as well and Private Colleges of Education.

    Speaking in the same vein, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu admonished the positive attitude of the leadership of the colleges of education, adding that the ministry would reciprocate the gesture to ensure a harmonious working relationship between the ministry and all colleges of education nationwide.

    Sununu called on the leadership of the colleges of education and relevant stakeholders to close ranks with the ministry to ensure improved enrolment of students into the colleges to guarantee a steady supply of qualified teachers at the “basic level of our educational system.”

    The minister added that the ministry would continue to work hard to create incentives for teachers as well as mobilise enrolment into the colleges of education.

    The chairman of the committee of all provosts of Colleges of Education Nationwide, Professor Faruk Haruna, and the Chairman of the Committee of Provosts of Federal Colleges of Education Dr. Ali Adamu were unanimous in appealing to the ministers to facilitate the implementation of the presidential directive to take colleges of education out of the IPPIS platform.

  • Lonely night, rowdy day

    Lonely night, rowdy day

    Sages have long observed, and rightly so, that failure is an orphan whereas success is everyone’s kindred. When an objective gets accomplished, many players claim instrumentality in bringing this about, even when you could hardly recall what exertions or personal sacrifices they made in the pursuit of the stated objective. And nearly all life’s accomplishments take after that pattern. They typically involve gruelling and lonely nights of pursuit of the objective, but rowdily celebratory days of achievement of that objective. It was no different with the recent exemption of universities and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) by the Bola Tinubu presidency.

    The administration announced penultimate week that it was taking federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education out of the IPPIS with immediate effect to allow the institutions deal internally with staff salary issues. Education Minister, Professor Mamman Tahir, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the exemption because heads of those institutions should not have to abandon their work and be coming to Abuja to process the salaries of their personnel. He explained inter alia that the IPPIS issue had impaired management efficiency in the institutions, noting that tertiary institutions are governed by laws and they should be allowed to exercise their autonomy.

    Read Also: IPPIS: COEASU lauds Tinubu, calls for decisive action against saboteurs

    Following that announcement, there  has been loud accolades from stakeholders in the tertiary education sector; only you would wonder where some of these stakeholders were in the long ‘night’ of agitation for same concession that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari unyieldingly resisted. The IPPIS was one of the issues for which members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) downed tools for more than 10 months in 2022, and for which their salaries were withheld and remains so even until now. The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) is one of the stakeholder groups that have applauded the exemption from the centralised payroll system. Secretary-General of the committee, Professor Yakubu Ochefu, said universities in particular could not cope with IPPIS because it “does not accommodate the kind of flexibility that the system requires, and that is why we said this thing is antithetical to the way universities are operated.” He disclosed that the committee had an interface with the minister, who is a former VC, sometime last August on the challenges with IPPIS, suggesting that this was instrumental to government’s change of stance.

    Well, if IPPIS was so problematic, it is curious ASUU was left alone to fight the Buhari administration at huge costs to members’ welfare and personal image. Amidst ongoing celebration, those lecturers deserve special commendation; indeed, apology for having been left alone to fight a universally beneficial battle. 

  • Tertiary educational institutions, IPPIS, other matters

    Tertiary educational institutions, IPPIS, other matters

    • By Andrew A. Erakhrumen

    Many people, particularly the stakeholders in the tertiary educational sector, were all agog over the recently well-publicised news that the Federal Executive Council has approved the exemption of federal tertiary educational institutions from the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS) “…..with immediate effect”.

    Cursorily, this is a good move from this current central government! Certainly, it is not yet time for celebrations because of the long history of insincerity from several past governments concerning their promises to Nigerians. For some of us, we are, rightly, treading cautiously based on our episodic memory. While we commend this move, as it stands today, there is no “big deal” concerning the removal (exemption) of these institutions from IPPIS platform because there was no need for their forceful enrolment in the first instance. That action by the anti-intellectual former president, Muhammadu Buhari and his confused and directionless co-travellers with anti-education mentality was a senseless voyage – to nowhere – in a rudderless ship powered by vain ego. While deceiving themselves and others with fake anti-corruption mantra, IPPIS succeeded in centralising “…..series of fraud and other malfeasance on payrolls belonging to [federal] government…..for the benefit of a few top civil servants, bureaucrats and politicians…..”. Yes, “corruption” is everywhere in Nigeria, now, with its greatest enablers being those in public offices!

    Deep-thinking people including Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) gave reasons why government’s forceful enrolment of federal universities’ members of staff on IPPIS was inappropriate and illegal but the anti-intellectuals saw no reason with them. It was all about “we are in power and control” by those low quality public office holders and uncivil civil servants! For almost four years of this misadventure called IPPIS in tertiary educational institutions, there has not been ONE “ghost worker” discovered there while “corruption” festered in the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation through the IPPIS ‘window’.

    Of course, IPPIS was (is) meant to punish those ‘arrogant’ people calling themselves intellectuals, first and foremost, in Nigerian federal universities. According to Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (1938–1997), it has been the case of “…..Sorrow Tears and Blood….” for those who know where the shoe pinches. It was, and still is, a catastrophic experience for those whose peanuts called “salaries” were ‘hanging’ somewhere for months through IPPIS! We know of people who suffered severe pain, life-threatening situations and death owing to unexpected dislocations, caused by unpaid ‘salaries’, which were not their fault! Nigerians have gone through a lot! They are still going through terrible conditions! As the years go by, it continuously appears as if all Nigerian governments are constantly set up to punish the people they were/are expected to superintend over! Why will people not “Japa” anyhow?

    Read Also: IPPIS: Centralised payment platform will reduce ghost workers — NAAT

    However, in order to not sound pessimistic (although, we still do not have a sound and convincing basis for optimism), it will be a commendable venture if the current central and other sub-national governments are trying to positively depart from the negative route established by their predecessors. History has it that no group of people, and their governments, have succeeded in moving forward, positively, with anti-intellectualism mind-set and actions! Knowledge rules the world; thus, the politicians and ruling class should work with the intellectuals and intelligentsias for the benefit of the majority of the people. Currently, there is a dangerously growing wide gulf between the rulers and ruled. It will be beneficial if the ruling class get off its high horse and admit its wrongness in not engaging those producing knowledge, and their sound knowledge, in sourcing evolving solutions to societal challenges. Each society has its problems but the ruling class cannot claim to have the monopoly of knowledge for solving them! Observably, Nigerian governments are still suffering from hang-over from dictatorship inherited from military rule. The (warped) Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution that was not originally written by the people is also a challenge. Yet, it is disheartening to see those being referred to as “democrats”, before May, 1999, behaving worse than the military despots that many Nigerians fought to send back to the barracks!

    To be sincere, there is currently no basis to discredit the arguments of critics who still hold the belief that there is no significant difference between the past and current central government. For instance, they ask: where is the student loan that was supposed to have been operational since September? Where are the palliatives to cushion the effects of the unprecedented astronomical increases in the price of premium motor spirit (also known as petrol) since May 29? Government calls it petroleum subsidy removal; the discerning knows it as petroleum price increase! Where is the demeaning N35,000 monthly palliative promised to federal government workers since September? Concerning the federal universities, where are the promotion arrears as far back as 2015/2016? Where are the unpaid salaries, for months, to many lecturers, in these universities as a result of the lacuna already identified on the IPPIS platform?

    Where are the earned academic allowances said to be in the 2023 budget that was signed into law? Where are the withheld eight months ‘salaries’ resulting from a strike action for which IPPIS was part of the reasons? Where are the ‘salaries’ from the ‘new salary scales’ for workers in tertiary educational institutions? The ‘new salary scales’, without collective bargaining, (with good intentions, we are told), were unilaterally adopted, by government, to be operational from January, 2023.

    To some, it may (rightly or wrongly) appear too early to doubt these promises by the federal government; nonetheless, experience has been a good teacher to us. We have consistently learnt that talk is cheap especially from politicians! They will always say what they think people want to hear. Therefore, we have gone far beyond the level of being shocked by disappointment from any politician or government. Although, government’s untrustworthiness is condemnable but we are prepared for it! A government that took over power, from another, from the same political ‘party’, should not be in power for more than six months and still be promising what it has power to implement during the month it was sworn in!

    Or, did this federal government (and its “technical advisers” at the Bretton Woods Institutions) require six months to increase the price of petrol in what they call petroleum subsidy removal? It took only minutes (on the day this federal government was inaugurated) for the pronouncement to be made by the president! To clear doubts that this government is now departing from the old path of “promise and fail”, it should immediately defray all monetary arrears earlier-highlighted. Once this is done, the “doubting Thomas” amongst, and in, us will be easily convinced with clear facts on the table.

    Finally, we really hope to be proven wrong that the federal government is not trying to use this IPPIS matter as a carrot (decoy) to achieve its decades-long well-known desire to fully abandon public universities through poorer funding.

    • Erakhrumen teaches at the University of Benin.
  • Re-engineered IPPIS: But not yet freedom

    Re-engineered IPPIS: But not yet freedom

    • By Oluwole Ogundele

    It is not an exaggeration to say here, that many things are wrong with today’s Nigeria. Therefore, there is need to urgently begin to cure the country of such terrible socio-economic illnesses as corruption, fraud, and poverty of the mind.  Transparency and accountability including probity have almost totally disappeared from the vocabularies of leadership discourse across the board. The Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), though a fine concept (if thoroughly domesticated and applied), has become another devil to wrestle with. The central philosophy of this system is the promotion of economic and financial sanity in our corruption-stained society. But IPPIS is being abused by the key stake holders who behave as if nobody is in charge to curb their excesses. Originally crafted to tackle the menace of ghost workers and bloated bureaucracies, IPPIS is now one of the houses of fraud and embarrassment to innocent federal workers.

    Salute to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for being a good listener and by extension, responsive leader! The Federal Executive Council under his direction has just removed tertiary institutions from this payment system.

    This payment system started in 2012 by the federal government. By 2019, we were told that it had saved about N12 billion. But despite this claim, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) wanted the body to effectively capture the peculiarities of the university system-a global phenomenon. ASUU’s template addresses the issue of sabbatical leave, accumulated annual leave, and contract appointments among others. Succinctly put, IPPIS before the removal of higher institutions from its platform a few days ago, rubbished the limited varsity autonomy enshrined in the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment Act, 2003 (also called Universities Autonomy Act, No.1, 2007).

    It is pertinent to note here, that a memorandum was signed in 2013 by the Abubakar Rasheed team. Professor Rasheed was then the vice chancellor, Bayero University, Kano. The thoroughly engineered document by ASUU, aimed at engendering economic/financial sanity in Nigeria was ignored by the “powers-that-be”. The spirit of patriotism had disappeared from the ruling class particularly during the pre-Tinubu era. Almost every senior official was doing what he liked because the central leadership was in a coma. Unbridled arrogance and power-drunkenness of most top government officials, did not allow them to be in harmony with federal varsity lecturers.

    Any society that is disdainful of its intelligentsia is doomed to failure. The earlier the Nigerian political class recognizes this existential reality the better for our country.  It is against this background, that PBAT’s decision on December 13 to disentangle ASUU from the clutches of IPPIS, gains its relevance.  This is highly commendable.

    ASUU is not unaware of the fact that maximum corruption goes on in the academia. Therefore, I do not think that it (ASUU) hates the concept of IPPIS, provided the uniqueness of varsities is captured, in line with the best global practices. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had on several occasions reported cases of monumental corruption in our universities. There are many cases of prostituted promotions, irregular appointments, and looting of the commonwealth in higher institutions-Polytechnics, Mono-technics, Colleges of Education, and universities.  Indeed, unprecedented fraud is oozing out of almost every corner of the country.  This new government should kindly begin to take appropriate steps to reduce the mess to the barest minimum. Salute also to SERAP in this context! Corruption is suffocating Nigeria. It is our most dreadful challenge.

    I’m sure that PBAT would be shocked to hear that some staff members of the University of Ibadan have not received their minimum wage arrears since May 2022.  In actuality, this writer is one of those short-changed lecturers. After filling several forms and approaching the vice chancellor, the true position of things is still shrouded in secrecy.  This is a social signature of rudderless-ness. The integrity and reputation of IPPIS are firmly on the line.

    Why should somebody be sleeping in the bursar’s office or “disturbing” the vice chancellor before getting his legitimate arrears, when we are not in the stone age period?  This is an internet age where administrative operations ought to be faster than hitherto.  There is a conspiracy of silence!  After 63 years of independence from Britain, transparency and accountability remain a big challenge for Nigeria. This is most worrying.

    Therefore, I’m humbly appealing to Mr. President to focus more on IPPIS operations in the interest of the common good. IPPIS is one of the ugly legacies of past administrations which must be rigorously handled. The removal of tertiary institutions from the dreadful IPPIS is just the first step, perfectly in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu’s administration. Government also needs to ask IPPIS about the unpaid arrears among other things, of many innocent varsity staff. After all, the affected workers have not committed any crime.

    Read Also: Tinubu to NPC board: start work now, I won’t tolerate non-performance

    In this connection, government needs to discipline the culpable IPPIS staff that are giving PBAT administration a bad name.  Such monies have to be recovered from them and paid to the affected individuals in the interest of equity, justice, and peace. They are not smarter than over 200 million Nigerians. We cannot just continue like this. Nigeria is stinking of endemic corruption!  Consequently, some of us have now become superb prayer warriors for the success of President Bola Tinubu, as he takes Nigeria to the promised land defined by transparency, accountability, probity, and unalloyed patriotism.  

    We should not forget in a hurry, how former President Buhari in 2017 ordered the stoppage of the Tertiary Education Trust Funds (TETFUNDS) special intervention money, given to universities across the country due to gross mismanagement. The Nigerian academia (like the filthy town), is riddled with unprecedented financial infractions among other forms of corruption.

    Those managing the affairs of our universities also have to begin to do a rethink. Their minds must be critically de-materialised. PBAT is the new General Officer Commanding Nigeria. He is a fiery warrior ordained by God to change the narrative from ugliness to beauty. My honest advice to those who want to continue to short-change Nigeria is to leave the stage as quickly as possible. Adjust or relocate! Our prisons across the country are waiting for such unpatriotic, gluttonous government functionaries-enemies of human dignity and progress. 

    Those of us who believe that President Tinubu has the courage and capacity to craft a new Nigeria of our dreams will not keep quiet in the face of recklessness characteristic of a rudderless society. Government agencies cannot afford to go haywire. A stitch in time saves nine!

    Despite the exit of tertiary institutions from the IPPIS, sanity must be embraced as a way of life by this body. This applies to other government agencies. Corruption, in whatever form amounts to economic and political sabotage in the long run. Once again, the dawn of a new era of total commitment to work is here. By this token, cockroaches and spiders masquerading as top government functionaries must disappear from our landscape, otherwise they would be consumed by a full-blown insecticidal revolution under the direction of President Tinubu.

    •Prof. Ogundele is of Dept. of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.

  • IPPIS: Centralised payment platform will reduce ghost workers — NAAT

    IPPIS: Centralised payment platform will reduce ghost workers — NAAT

    The National Association Academic Technologists (NAAT) has hailed President Bola Tinubu for removing public tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payment System (IPPIS).

    The union, however, expressed reservation over the decision.

    NAAT argued that a centralised payment platform like IPPIS would reduce ghost workers.

    The union said this in a statement signed by its President, Ibeji Nwokoma on Sunday in Abuja and said it was looking up to the Federal Government on the way forward after exiting IPPIS.

    Last week, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) exempted universities, polytechnics and colleges of education from the IPPIS.

    The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who briefed the media, said FEC observed that Vice Chancellors of Universities didn’t need to abandon their work to come to Abuja to process the salaries of their personnel.

    Read Also: Ex-APC national chair, Adamu, announces retirement from politics

    The decision was hailed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities who had been against the usage of the payment platform by the government.

    But in its statement, NAAT said the removal of public institutions from IPPIS, university autonomy will be restored.

    It, however, expressed reservations on “payment uniformity of salaries and allowances across federal tertiary institutions as it was achieved under IPPIS despite its shortcomings.”

    The statement added: “With the exit of Federal Tertiary Institutions from IPPIS, NAAT is curious to seek for clarification from the government on the way forward as nothing can exist out of nothing.

    “Our Union advocates for the continuous use of a centralised payment platform to sustain the gains already achieved through IPPIS and reduce the incidence of over-bloated personnel cost and ghost workers being major reasons for creation of IPPIS.”

  • Parents, VCs, students laud exemption of tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    Parents, VCs, students laud exemption of tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    Parents, vice chancellors, and students in tertiary institutions across the country have expressed gratitude to the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for removing tertiary institutions from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    The vice chancellors, under the aegis of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), applauded the decision of the Federal Government for removing universities from the controversial payment system.

    Read Also; Sanwo-Olu promises medical palliatives to residents

    The Secretary-General of the committee, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, announced this while addressing reporters on the sideline of a one-day workshop for Advancement and Alumni Officers of Nigerian Universities yesterday in Abuja.

    Ochefu said the removal would birth a new university system.

    Also, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) hailed the Federal Government for the exemption.

    In separate statements by NANS Senate President Akinteye Afeez Babatunde and NAPS President Ridwan Opeyemi, the students noted that the decision would address concerns raised by the Academic Staff of Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and streamline administrative processes.

  • Attention, House Committee on varsity education

    Attention, House Committee on varsity education

    By FUDMA Staff

    SIR: We write to convey to you a matter of concern regarding the delayed enrolment of recruited staff at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

    Despite completing all necessary documentation processes, there has been a prolonged and uncertain three-year delay in our enrolment on the IPPIS. This delay has not only affected the morale and confidence of the individuals involved but has also raised questions about the efficiency of FUDMA’s administrative processes. It is disheartening to note that some had to work for months before receiving a circular notifying them of their suspension from work, pending capturing on the IPPIS platform.

    The affected employees who joined FUDMA with high expectations to contribute positively to the university have now found themselves in a state of limbo. Some resigned from their previous employments, anticipating a seamless transition to FUDMA. The protracted anticipation has caused significant distress among the affected workers who urgently need clarity on whether there are still possibilities for them to be captured on the IPPIS or not.

    Read Also; Sanwo-Olu promises medical palliatives to residents

    We are reaching out to you due to the failure of the university management to communicate clearly with us. We believe you can use your influence and position to intervene in this matter. Given the critical role of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, we believe your intervention will no doubt help to accelerate the resolution of the enrolment issue at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma.

    We passionately request that you investigate the reasons behind the delay and facilitate a prompt and transparent resolution to this matter. Your intervention can play a pivotal role in ensuring that the affected staff are enrolled on the IPPIS.

    Your prompt attention to this matter will not only address the immediate concerns of the affected individuals but also contribute to the overall efficiency and credibility of our higher education system.

    • For: FUDMA Staff Not Enrolled on the IPPIS, samhabushraakareem@gmail.com

  • NAPS lauds Tinubu over exemption of polytechnics, varsities from IPPIS

    NAPS lauds Tinubu over exemption of polytechnics, varsities from IPPIS

    The National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has applauded the President Bola Tinubu led federal government, for removal of polytechnics, universities and other tertiary institutions from Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS).

    The apex polytechnic students union body said the exemption of the tertiary institution from IPPIS will enhance the autonomy and efficiency of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

    In a statement signed by the NAPS National Secretary, Comrade Agada Noah said that, the federal government’s decision which empowers the institutions to independently manage the salary issues of their staff, will provide a landmark victory for the academic community.

    The statement quoted the NAPS president, Comrade Ridwan OpeyemI, as commending the Federal Executive Council for the decision he described as forward-thinking.

    The statement read: “In a historic move towards enhancing the autonomy and efficiency of tertiary institutions in Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has granted approval for the exemption of universities and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS).

    “This significant decision empowers these institutions to independently manage the salary issues of their staff, providing a landmark victory for the academic community.

    Read Also: NANS commends Tinubu for exempting tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    “National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) views this development with immense appreciation to the Federal Government, recognizing the positive impact it will have on the administration and functioning of our revered tertiary institutions.

    “The decision reflects a commitment to fostering an environment where universities and colleges can exercise their autonomy in line with established laws.

    “The NAPS National President Comrade Ridwan Opeyemi, commends the Federal Executive Council for this forward-thinking decision. This exemption aligns with the persistent calls for the removal of tertiary institutions from the IPPIS system, addressing concerns raised by the Academic Staff of Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and streamlining administrative processes.

    “Furthermore, NAPS acknowledges the concurrent decision relieving the managements of tertiary institutions from the bureaucratic burden of seeking approval and waiver from the Office of the Head of Service for recruitment. This progressive step will undoubtedly expedite decision-making processes and enhance the overall efficiency of our academic institutions.

    “This marks a pivotal moment for the academic community, heralding a new era of streamlined operations and improved administrative efficacy.”

  • NANS commends Tinubu for exempting tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    NANS commends Tinubu for exempting tertiary institutions from IPPIS

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has commended President Bola Tinubu led federal government over the recent decision to exempt universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

    The student body said the exemption would serve as a significant relief for the tertiary institutions in addressing persistent concerns raised by academic authorities. 

    A statement by the Senate president of NANS, Akinteye Babatunde said that the responsiveness of President Tinubu to the pleas of education sector underscores a commitment towards fostering conducive environment for learning and academic excellence.

    He said: “We commend the government’s understanding of the intricacies involved and its willingness to engage in dialogue to arrive at a solution beneficial to all stakeholders.

    Read Also: FEC exempts varsities, polytechnics, others from IPPIS

    “As we celebrate this positive development, NANS calls upon our esteemed lecturers to embrace this opportunity by being proactive in fulfilling their duties. The heart of our nation’s progress lies in the education imparted within these institutions, and the dedication of lecturers is pivotal to shaping the future of our country.”

    “NANS encourages a renewed sense of collaboration between the government and educators to ensure the continuous improvement of our educational system. Let us collectively work towards creating an atmosphere conducive to academic growth, research, and innovation.”

    “Once again, we express our gratitude to the Federal Government for heeding the pleas and looks forward to continued collaboration with the government to address challenges and enhance the quality of education in Nigeria.”