Presidential directives, IPPIS and bureaucratic disconnect

The role of bureaucracy in the effective, efficient and timeous implementation of policies of government is underscored by the recent meeting of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in February 2024, with the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Body of Permanent Secretaries and some Directors-General of agencies at the State House, Abuja. He reportedly warned that ineffectiveness and unnecessary bureaucracy which result in delays on interventions of government will not be tolerated and directed inter alia, “before the next meeting, I want to see progress in the civil service…”

It may be recalled that a contentious issue in the FGN-ASUU face-off was the use of Integrated Personnel and Payroll information System (IPPIS) when the University was migrated from Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS). The objection to IPPIS by ASUU was because of the plethora of encumbrances that the payment platform imposed on management of the university system notably, inflexibility in recruitment of staff, regular and short-term.

Specifically, the IPPIS has no provision for visiting staff, the hallmark of universities world-wide, which allows for free movement of academics on short-term visit for teaching and research. Similarly, it does not allow for timeous replacement of academic staff exiting the universities for sundry reasons without recourse to the Ministry of finance for permission, which often are not granted without extraneous conditions.

More vexatious, IPPIS has no provision for arrears on salaries for academics promoted to the ranks in the professorial cadre. It is instructive to state that an academic staff for the professorial cadre must first satisfy the gestation time in rank; second, must satisfy the requisite scholarly publications in acceptable academic journals; third, if prima facie qualified for the rank, must be subjected to external assessment by three scholars in the specific field within or outside the country.

Thus, the candidate’s promotion effective from the year pronounced by the Appointment and Promotion Committee (A&PC) of Council and Senate is predicated upon positive responses from the external assessors. And when so promoted, for most part, it is retroactive, for the academic staff, from the date earlier pronounced by A&PC. Regrettably, IPPIS does not have provision for promotion arrears thereof. Consequently there are many academics who are owed promotion arrears spanning over six years because IPPIS is deficient.

There are many ancillary issues arising from this deficiency, not least is the grand corruption inherent in the continued use of IPPIS. There is the poignant allegation, in February 2024, against IPPIS by the Vice-Chancellor, University of Maiduguri, of persons on the staff list unknown to the University but are paid salaries from the platform. In a particular case, the person resides in Lagos.

In light of this there is the compelling need for staff audit in all the agencies being serviced by IPPIS to ascertain authenticity of staff. What is clear is that an over- centralised system is one inherently prone to catastrophic failure as is evident with IPPIS. The IPPIS does not avail staff pay slips to know what deductions are made from salaries when paid.

Further the co-operatives in the university provide avenues for staff to save and to obtain credits. IPPIS in its inefficiency does not remit promptly to co-operatives check-offs from staff salaries. The recent payment of four months arrears of salaries of academic staff as directed by President Tinubu has deductions for co-operatives pending which, de facto, means incomplete payment of staff salaries. No explanation for the delay in remittance.

It is a bold relief that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria pronounced on IPPIS as follows: “I declare the claimant (FGN) acted in error to impose IPPIS on the defendant union (ASUU). The issue of what payment platform is to be used in paying the salaries or wages of staff of the university is one that is within the discretion of individual Councils of the Universities in line with the autonomy granted them by the University (Miscellaneous Provision)(Amendment) Act 2003”.

It is equally a bold relief that the Federal Government accepted the verdict by the directive of President Tinubu after a Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by him in December, 2023 directing migration of all tertiary institutions from IPPIS. Re-iterating the significance of the Presidential directive, the Minister of Information and National Orientation said, “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 IPPIS”. Correct.

But four months after the presidential directive on the subject, university staff members are still being paid on IPPIS, nay and strangely ‘New IPPIS’, sign-posting bureaucratic disconnect, quod erat demonstrandum. Admitting, the presidential directive was silent on platform to migrate to, the logical action which is expedient in the circumstance is migration to GIFMIS to which ASUU was not averse ab initio.

To continue to pay university staff on IPPIS or whatever name so-called is grave violation of a presidential order validly made in compliance with the verdict of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

Professor Eromosele is former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.