*Prof. Tahir Mamman, Minister of Education, discloses the Federal Executive Council has approved the exemption for the Federal tertiary institutions to save the time of Vice-Chancellors of Universities from abandoning their responsibilities to head for Abuja for processing聽 of salaries of their personnel

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

In a bid to ease the challenges of processing and payment of salaries, allowances and bonuses of staff, the Federal Government has removed the Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education from the Integrated Personnel Payment System (IPPIS).

绿帽献妻 reports the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the exemption of the tertiary institutions聽 Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at the Council’s meeting held in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, FCT.

Explaining the government’s rationale for taking the long-expected measure by the Nigerian academics, Prof. Tahir Mamman, Honourable Minister of Education, along with other Ministers while briefing the State House Correspondents, on the outcome of the FEC meeting, said the exemption of the Federal tertiary institutions in the country would take immediate effect.

The Minister disclosed the FEC also observed that Vice-Chancellors of Universities did not need to abandon their responsibilities in their institutions to head for Abuja to process the salaries of their personnel.

It is recalled the Nigerian Government, in 2006, had introduced the IPPIS as one of its reform initiatives for the effective storage of personnel records, in an attempt to improve transparency and accountability in the payments system.

The IPPIS initiative was also expanded to include all ministries, departments and agencies that draw personnel costs from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

In reacting to the development over the years, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) severally had made moved to reject the reform, especially the then controversial IPPIS platform.

This has resulted in a continual tussle with the Federal Government over the continuous use of IPPIS for the payment of university lecturers鈥� entitlements.

Other academics, experts and some Nigerians have equally that enrolling the tertiary institutions on IPPIS platform would amount to the University autonomy.

Some others, at different times, equally accused the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HoCSF) of meddling in the affairs of the Nigerian universities.