President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is an irreversible policy that has come to stay in Nigeria.
This is even as the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, disclosed that the system has unveiled about 60,000 ghost workers in government payroll.
Speaking at the 29th convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Minna in Niger State, Buhari declared that any opposition to the IPPIS will be viewed as economic sabotage.
The president, who was represented by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, said IPPIS is part of his administration’s efforts to fight corruption in the country, stressing that these efforts should be appreciated instead of being opposed.
“The country is currently beset with multifaceted challenges; we are equally adopting a multi-prong approach in order to combat them. Our effort is appreciable and success recorded so far is also encouraging.
“Some of the solutions we have adopted may be painstaking but we are resolute and confident that in the end, our country will be a better place for all.
“Just as we are diversifying our economy, tapping into our strings of revenue to revamp our economy, we have also remained resolute in ensuring that we plug the loopholes in public finance so as to eliminate fraud and retrieve funds, which can be used to address challenges such as infrastructural deficit and unemployment.
“It is for this reason that my administration gave a directive that every employee of the Federal Government of Nigeria, including federal universities, must be enrolled in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information system (IPPIS).
“This decision, mindful as its sectoral policy is, is irreversible as any opposition to this directive is an unwelcome tendency towards economic sabotage.”
Delivering his address, the Vice-Chancellor of FUT Minna, Professor Abdullahi Bala, said 168 students, including 120 undergraduates and 48 postgraduate students, were withdrawn from the institution during the academic year for various reasons ranging from poor academic performance to misconduct.
Pantami said N24 billion has been saved since the government began the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
He said that the IPPIS and TSA were introduced by the federal government to minimise to the nearest minimal, the problem of corruption in Nigeria.
Pantami expressed the determination for the government to set the record straight regarding corruption in Nigeria.
Delivering the convocation lecture titled, ‘Datification of social economic and security issues in producing and using public and private data in Nigeria’, the minister said that the nation is poised to achieve the national digital economy which would reposition Nigeria digital online with global best practices.
He stated that with datification, society and individual will gain more in the execution of their day to day activities.
