Government agrees to pay ASUU’s salaries with GIFIMS, but not exempted from IPPIS ─Minister

*IPPIS and GIFMIS would be used in paying the university teachers for the transition period, while the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) continues to undergo all the integrity test and cyber security test for confirmation to use ─ Sen. (Dr.) Chris Ngige, Honourable Minister for Labour and Employment

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Following months of industrial action by the University lecturers, and attendant series of meetings and negotiations over the past eight months, the Federal Government of Nigeria has agreed to pay the salaries of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by adopting a different mode of payment other than the controversial Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

ConsumerConnect reports Sen. (Dr.) Chris Ngige, Honourable Minister for Labour and Employment, revealed this during an interaction with media professionals at the end of a closed door meeting with ASUU leadership Friday, in Abuja, FCT.

The Minister stated that Federal Government would look into the issue of “No-Work-No-Pay” the authorities have sanctioned with a view to approving the payment of the withheld salaries over the months.

Ngige stated: “The meeting has agreed that the mode of payment applied for the payment of those that had not been captured in the IPPIS platform between the month of February and June 2020 be adopted for the purpose of payment during this transition period.

“In addition, the meeting agreed that a suitable template that will address all the anomalies identified in the previous processes should be handled by the Accountant General of the Federation, Executive Secretary of NUC and the Accounting Officers (Vice Chancellors).”

The government has agreed to ASUU’s demand to pay their members salary arrears from February to June, using the old salary payment platform, GIFIMS.

However, the Federal Government has clarified that ASUU is not exempted from enrolling on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform.

Ngige, in a statement, Saturday, November 21, in Abuja, said the government was quoted out of context on the matter, saying there was no meeting where it was agreed that ASUU would be exempted from the IPPIS payment platform.

The minister explained that at the meeting with the leadership of the university teachers, government agreed that ASUU members that were yet to enroll on IPPIS would be paid through the platform with which they received President Muhammadu Buhari’s compassionate COVID-19 payment from February to June 2020.

The platform was a hybrid platform between IPPIS and the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS), which he said is for the transition period.

No government payment would be done without IPPIS knowing, stated the Minister.

He said that IPPIS and GIFMIS would be used in paying the university teachers for the transition period, while the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) continues to undergo all the integrity test and cyber security test for confirmation to use.

The minister clarified that “the situation is that you need to get our communiqué to ASUU. I think it is better because a lot of people are quoting us out of context, saying that we abandoned the IPPIS and that we said they should not be on IPPIS. It is not true.

“What we said in the meeting and what we agreed was that in the interim, for the transition period, that UTAS is being tested by NITDA and the Office of National Security Adviser for cyber security.

“For the transition period, ASUU members that are not yet on IPPIS will be paid through the platform with which they were paid the President’s compassionate COVID-19 payment done to them between the months of February and June.”