The Senior Staff of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) University of Jos makes a U-turn and rejects the controversial Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information (IPPIS), after about four months of enrolment. The union in a congress held on the 22^nd and 24^th of May 2020 x-rayed the happenings as it affects the welfare and needs/ future of its members in the IPPIS platform and issued out a press statement raising the union’s concern.

The statement blames the government for its “lackadaisical attitude and betrayal of trust to the unions’ National Administrative committee “ the union expressed its readiness to safe public Universities from the elements in the Accountant General office and National salary and wages Commission whom the union claims do not mean well for workers of Nigerian public university. ..

The statement carries about 11 grievances and observations which includes, deliberate delay in salary since the advent of IPPIS,  irregularities in salaries without explanation, non-availability of payslip, the omission of members with Access/ Diamond Bank, FCMB, and microfinance Banks who are yet to be paid four months after the enrolment to IPPIS. Again, the union laments the forceful implementation and deduction of National Housing Scheme (NHS) without consensual approval of its members while deploying high tax regime without recourse to the union’s right to negotiations and fair hearing.

Others worries include the deduction of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on staff salaries, a deduction the union claims contravenes the NHIS act, lack of third party deductions, a situation that grounding staff cooperatives and unions dues.

The implementation of the IPPIS in public Universities is traced to the Presidential directive however, it seems the directive will not go well with the public university as the Academic Staff of Universities have refused to enroll and embarked on a strike since February 2020. With the demands raised by the non- teaching staff again,  it seems the Universities will soon be shut down as the SSANU union is demanding the immediate reversal to the former paying system, GIFMIS or a platform that understands and accommodates the peculiarities of the University system will the government bow to this demand? Does it imply that the Non-teaching staff will now join in the strike already declared by ASUU?

In the statement which was signed by the union chairperson Comrade Esther J. Ezeama and the secretary comrade Anthony T. Joro, the union is reminding Government of the 2009 FGN/Unions Agreement, MOU and MOA of the unions including the University Act as a reference document to guide government in order to avoid industrial disharmony in the nation’s public University sector.

There are about 459 MDAS on IPPIS Platform as of 31st June, 2017. The department is responsible for processing and payment of salary to over Three hundred thousand (300,000) Federal Government Employees across the 459 MDAs. IPPIS aim is to enrol into the platform, all Federal Government MDAs that draws personnel cost fund from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. IPPIS claims that since its inception  in April 2007, the department has saved the Federal Government of Nigeria billions of Naira by eliminating thousands of ghost workers, however, such a cost was never seen in development or corresponding infrastructure and never had the official release the purported list of claimed ghost workers.

The question important to the citizens is, when will this dispute finish as the Government contemplates opening schools amid the COVID -19 Pandemic? Will the presidential directive continues to stand despite the resistant by stakeholders in the university system? How long will this continue?

count | 209

SSANU Uni-Jos Rejects IPPIS…might soon join striking academics…