NIGERIAN SENATE ADOPTS MY MOTION ON THE URGENT NEED FOR THE SENATE TO INVESTIGATE THE ALARMING CASES OF PAYMENT DELAYS AND ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION ASSOCIATED WITH THE CAPTURING AND PAYMENT OF NEWLY RECRUITED STAFF OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES UNDER IPPIS

My Distinguished Constituents,

In response to several appeals by some of our brothers and sisters working in Federal Universities for me to intervene and save them from untold hardship caused by non payment of their salaries for years due to the controversy surrounding the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) which was introduced by the Federal Government in October 2006 to take care of salary payment of Federal Civil Servants, I moved a Motion on the floor of the Senate yesterday on the urgent need for the Senate to investigate the alarming cases of payment delays and allegations of corruption associated with the capturing and payment of newly recruited staff of Federal Universities under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

During the Motion presentation, I informed the Senate that IPPIS was introduced by the Federal Government in October 2006 as a reform measure aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in the management of the data and earnings of federal civil servants in such a manner as to guarantee confidence in staff emolument costs and budgeting. I also disclosed that the primary motivation behind the introduction of IPPIS is to take advantage of existing Information Communication Technology (ICT) on human resource management in other parts of the world to ensure that ghost workers are eliminated while bona fide Federal Government employees are paid accurately and timely. I further maintained that since its introduction in 2006, over two million federal government employees across six hundred and ninety-six Ministries, Departments and Agencies including some staff of Federal Universities and other tertiary institutions have been reportedly captured on IPPIS.

I further informed the Senate that it is unfortunate that instead of restoring the confidence of workers in the system, IPPIS has caused many families untold hardship following the inability of relevant authorities to pay some of their workers especially those recruited between the year 2020 and present year due to the inability of the authorities to capture their data on IPPIS.

You may recall that the use of IPPIS in human resource management in federal universities was a thorny issue between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) during the recently suspended strike embarked upon by the union and while the Federal Government insisted that IPPIS remains the best system to be used in salary payment, ASUU took a different position recommending the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as an alternative that is most suitable for the University system. I further informed the Red Chamber that since the Federal Government and ASUU were unable to reach agreement regarding which of the two payment systems that should be adopted for the management of university staff payments and considering recent allegations of bribery, corruption, delayed capturing and payment of some university staff recruited as far back as in 2020 due to IPPIS, there is urgent need for the Senate to investigate these irregularities because of untold hardship they have caused to affected university staff and their families.

I further urged the Senate to note that some of the affected staff cutting across many federal universities have been alleged to have bribed IPPIS officials for the purpose of getting captured on the system and that the allegations of bribery, corruption, delayed capturing and payment of salaries of newly recruited staff of federal universities has casted serious doubt on the credibility and suitability of IPPIS as a system for managing the payments of staff of federal universities. I further urged the Senate to set up a Committee to investigate the matter and invite relevant authorities to disclose the status quo of the conflict of interest between the Federal Government and ASUU, and recommend the way forward.

Following my Motion, the Senate resolved to refer the matter to the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education when constituted in order to investigate the allegations of bribery and corruption of IPPIS officials at various Universities across the Federation, delayed capturing and non payment of staff of Federal Universities who were recruited as far back as 2020 and to make a report on the status of the disagreement between the Federal Government and ASUU on the use of either IPPIS or UTAS as the preferred payment system for Nigerian university staff and recommend the way forward.

Ndị Nkem, rest assured that I will continue to protect your interests at the upper chamber and I will not relent in making you proud. Thank you.

Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Ubah
Anambra South Senatorial District
July 13, 2023.