[Nigeria] FEC exempts universities and other tertiary institutions from IPPIS

In Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the exemption of public tertiary institutions, including universities, from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), This Day reports.

Minister of Education, Professor Mamman Tahir, announced the news to waiting press on December 13 after the week’s FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja

The Minister also reportedly said that the Council had relieved managements of tertiary institutions of the burden of obtaining recruitment approval and waiver from the Office of the Head of Federal Civil Service.

He stated that exempting tertiary institutions from the IPPIS platform and from seeking the Head of Civil Service’s authority for recruitment would allow such institutions to deal with the salary issues of their staff and recruitment issues internally. 

According to Professor Tahir, the FEC decided to remove the institutions from the IPPIS system because it was concerned with efficiency and the management of the institutions.

He added that, apart from the opposition to the payment system by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the IPPIS issue had proved time-consuming for university vice-chancellors. The Minister said that as the tertiary institutions were governed by laws, they should be allowed to exercise their autonomy.

He said, “It was a very happy day for the education sector because one of the problems which the vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts of colleges of education, those managing the tertiary sector in Nigeria, have been complaining about has been the subscription to the IPPIS.

“You know what IPPIS does, which has made recruitment and many other activities of the university remitting to personnel very difficult. Now today’s Council decided, the President has directed that vice-chancellor should no longer…they have been taken out of that service.

“So this is a very, very important development for the vice-chancellors that will allow for efficient management of the universities and tertiary education generally speaking.

“Then secondly, which is connected to that, before now when the tertiary institutions want to make an appointment, they have to write to the Office of the Head of Service for waiver or approval or that sort of thing.

“Today, the Council, through the directive of the President, has exempted them. They don’t have to go to the Office of the Head of Service because it is actually not in their line of supervision.”

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, said, “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated personnel payroll and information system. You will recall that the university authorities and the others have been clamouring for the exemption of the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.

“Today, council has graciously approved that. What that means is that going forward, the universities like the Honorable Minister of Education has said and other tertiary institutions, the polytechnics and colleges of education will be taken off the IPPIS.

“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 the IPPIS”, he said.

The IPPIS was reportedly introduced by the federal government in October 2006 as part of reform initiatives to effectively store personnel records and promote transparency and accountability.

Source: This Day

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the exemption of public tertiary institutions, including universities, from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), This Day reports.

Minister of Education, Professor Mamman Tahir, announced the news to waiting press on December 13 after the week’s FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja

The Minister also reportedly said that the Council had relieved managements of tertiary institutions of the burden of obtaining recruitment approval and waiver from the Office of the Head of Federal Civil Service.

He stated that exempting tertiary institutions from the IPPIS platform and from seeking the Head of Civil Service’s authority for recruitment would allow such institutions to deal with the salary issues of their staff and recruitment issues internally. 

According to Professor Tahir, the FEC decided to remove the institutions from the IPPIS system because it was concerned with efficiency and the management of the institutions.

He added that, apart from the opposition to the payment system by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the IPPIS issue had proved time-consuming for university vice-chancellors. The Minister said that as the tertiary institutions were governed by laws, they should be allowed to exercise their autonomy.

He said, “It was a very happy day for the education sector because one of the problems which the vice-chancellors, rectors and provosts of colleges of education, those managing the tertiary sector in Nigeria, have been complaining about has been the subscription to the IPPIS.

“You know what IPPIS does, which has made recruitment and many other activities of the university remitting to personnel very difficult. Now today’s Council decided, the President has directed that vice-chancellor should no longer…they have been taken out of that service.

“So this is a very, very important development for the vice-chancellors that will allow for efficient management of the universities and tertiary education generally speaking.

“Then secondly, which is connected to that, before now when the tertiary institutions want to make an appointment, they have to write to the Office of the Head of Service for waiver or approval or that sort of thing.

“Today, the Council, through the directive of the President, has exempted them. They don’t have to go to the Office of the Head of Service because it is actually not in their line of supervision.”

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, said, “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated personnel payroll and information system. You will recall that the university authorities and the others have been clamouring for the exemption of the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.

“Today, council has graciously approved that. What that means is that going forward, the universities like the Honorable Minister of Education has said and other tertiary institutions, the polytechnics and colleges of education will be taken off the IPPIS.

“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 the IPPIS”, he said.

The IPPIS was reportedly introduced by the federal government in October 2006 as part of reform initiatives to effectively store personnel records and promote transparency and accountability.

Source: This Day

(Quotes via original reporting)