The Federal Executive Council, during its meeting at the Presidential Villa Abuja, approved the exemption of Federal Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education from the Integrated Personnel Payment System.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, announced this change, stating it takes immediate effect.
Additionally, the FEC noted that Vice Chancellors of Universities no longer needed to leave their duties to handle personnel salary processing in Abuja.
IPPIS was conceptualized in October 2006 by the Federal Government of Nigeria as one of its Reform Programme, to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the storage of personnel records and administration of monthly payroll to enhance confidence in staff emolument costs and budgeting.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will continue to oppose the proposed reform and engage in an ongoing dispute with the Federal Government regarding the persistent implementation of IPPIS for the payment of university lecturers’ benefits.
ASUU’s Vice President, and a staunch advocate against IPPIS, Chris Piwuna, emphasizes the importance of university autonomy and accuses the Office of the Head of Service of interfering in the universities’ affairs as a significant reason for rejecting the system.
“We are not accepting that IPPIS is in any shape or form. ASUU will never accept IPPIS on our campuses,” he said.
“Autonomy of Nigerian university is our problem, not the peculiarities in IPPIS…The Office of the Head of Service of the Federation has taken over the work of the university governing councils and vice-chancellors.
“We are asking that they take their hands off the universities.”
ASUU opted for the University Transparency and Accountability Solution as their desired platform for payment.
According to the body, the “benefits of UTAS to the university system (both public and private) cannot be found in any other software in Nigeria today.“
