Sept. 6, 2021

The Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris has assured that his office will not rest on its mandate to get all government employees migrated into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform.

Idris stated this on Monday at the opening of a 3 day training workshop for IPPIS role players in Federal Government agencies and institutions throughout the country, organised by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) in the South-West geopolitical zone in Lagos.

According to him, the OAGF has recorded tremendous success, as many government personnel have been moved to the IPPIS platform.

Encouraged by the positive impact that the IPPIS brought to administration of the payroll system, Idris said the Federal Government mandated that personnel in all government agencies and institutions that draw salaries from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) be moved to the  platform.

“The task saddled on the OAGF, has indeed been energy-sapping due to the peculiarities of some government agencies and institutions. However, let me assure you that my office will not rest on this mandate to get all our government employees migrated into the IPPIS.”

“This special training commenced three weeks ago and has been successfully held in four geopolitical zones, namely; North-West, North-East, South-East and South-South. This week, the training will hold simultaneously in the North-Central and in the South-West”.

He noted that the IPPIS is one of the key reform initiatives of the Federal Government which  provides a platform for payment of personnel emoluments and maintains a database for information and actions on government workforce.

“This position underscores the resolve by the Federal Government to evolve permanent solutions to hitches that may be observed in the operations of the policy. This training workshop, which is in line with this resolve, is meant to keep IPPIS Role Players abreast with the operations of the policy, to enhance their capacity to take full ownership of their respective payrolls and efficiently discharge their responsibilities in the centralized platform”, Idris he said.

He added that in introducing the IPPIS into the country’s public service, the government sought to entrench transparency and accountability in the management of the payroll system.

“Prior to the introduction of the IPPIS, the manual payroll system that was in operation made it impossible to determine the number of personnel in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that were paid salaries due to non-availability of necessary data”.

“Suffice it to state here that since the inception of the IPPIS, there has been significant level of transparency in administration of government payroll. The policy has aided efficient management of personnel records, timely payment of salaries and wages, accurate deduction of taxes and other third-party dues, as well as smooth remittance of payroll deductions to third parties and has brought greater efficiency to the planning of personnel emoluments and budget”.

“It is apt to reiterate that the government will continually seek fresh ideas, adopt new strategies and implement requisite plans to seal all leakages in order to sustain a flawless payroll and personnel management system and enhance the gains of the various financial management reform initiatives for the benefit of all Nigerians”, Idris noted.

Report by: Theresa Igata