The Federal Government says it has enrolled 711 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform.
The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris, made this known in Lagos on Monday at a training organised for IPPIS Role Players in the South-West.
Idris, who was represented by Mr Salawu Zubairu, Director, Consolidated Account, office of the AGF, said the number enrolled was out of a thousand MDAs in the country.
The AGF said that his office would not relent on its mandate, until all government employees were migrated into the IPPIS platform.
He said the Federal Government was desirous to decentralise the management of payroll, so that any issue encountered in the implementation of IPPIS, could be resolved without travelling down to Abuja.
According to him, the training is to ensure that IPPIS role players understand operations of the policy of the platform.
He said the special training commenced three weeks ago, and had been successfully held in four geopolitical zones of North-West, North-East, South-East and South-South, while that of North-Central and South-West were simultaneously, currently being held.
“IPPIS is one of the key reform initiatives of the Federal Government. It provides a platform for payment of personnel emoluments and maintains a database for information and actions on government workforce.
“This position underscores the resolve by the Federal Government to evolve permanent solutions to hitches that may be observed in the operations of the policy.
“This training, which is in line with this resolve, is meant to keep IPPIS role players abreast of operations of the policy, to enhance their capacity to take full ownership of their respective payrolls, and efficiently discharge their responsibilities in the centralised platform.
“In introducing the IPPIS into the country’s public service, the government seeks to entrench transparency and accountability in the management of the payroll system.
“Prior to introduction of the IPPIS, the manual payroll system that was in operation, made it impossible to determine the number of personnel in MDAs, that were paid salaries, due to non-availability of necessary data,” Idris said.
The AGF said that since inception of IPPIS, there had been significant level of transparency in administration of government payroll.
He said the policy had aided efficient management of personnel records, timely payment of salaries and wages, accurate deduction of taxes and other third-party dues, as well as smooth remittances of payroll deductions to third parties.
Idris said the task, vested with the office of the AGF, had been energy-sapping, due to the peculiarities of some government agencies and institutions.
He said the government would continually seek fresh ideas, adopt new strategies and implement requisite plans to seal all leakages, in order to sustain a flawless payroll and personnel management system.
“I beseech you to give this training the necessary attention and make good use of the information on operations of the policy.
“You must see this training as a call to national service. Your ability to honestly and correctly apply the ideas gained at this training becomes your own contribution to nation building.
“At present, Nigeria needs men and women with high level of integrity, dexterity, honesty, diligence and sense of purpose to help reposition it for the better.
“As a role player, you are an important part of the complex machinery that is meant to ensure success of the IPPIS policy,” Idris said.
One of the participants, Ms Mercy Omezi, from the National Institute for Sports, Lagos, said that salary remained important integral of every public servant.
“There will be serious problems, if public servants are not being paid their salaries,” she said.
She added that it was her expectations that at the end of the training, issues surrounding arrears, unpaid salaries would be resolved without visiting Abuja.
Another participant, Mrs Mabel Enosolease, from the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin, said the training would reduce the risk of traveling to Abuja always.
Enosolease said the training would help role players resolve issues like failed transactions and third party deductions among others.
