Corruption Scourge: Task Before IPPIS

In 2006, the Federal Gov
ernment decided to have a centralised database of all its employees and the idea led to the establishment of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
As expected, some cynics then expressed some reservations about the purpose and benefits of the IPPIS, arguing that the scheme would turn out to be counterproductive.
Economic experts, however, insist that IPPIS is a pragmatic way of curbing the huge personnel costs of the government due to its capacity to the check corrupt practices of some government agencies, particularly those that have ghost workers on their payrolls.
This expectation is, perhaps, plausible, as the scheme has facilitated the discovery of thousands of fake names on the government’s payroll.
Mrs Fatima Mede, the Director (Finance and Accounts), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, said recently that the Federal Ministry of Finance had removed 46, 861 fake names from the Federal Government’s payroll via the centralised data of the IPPIS.
“We work with active and physical persons, contrary to some reports, the application of this platform is not meant to take people’s jobs nor go after ghost workers alone.
“Rather, it is designed to ensure that the records of all employees of government are brought under a central database,’’ she added
The IPPIS scheme, a World Bank-sponsored project which had seven Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as its initial focus, now covers 308 MDAs — a clear indication that the scheme is becoming more accepted and sustainable.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, said that as at December 2013, the Federal Government had saved over N119 billion from the partial implementation of the IPPIS scheme.
Corroborating the minister’s claim, Mr Jonah Otunla, the Accountant-General of the Federation, said that the amount represented cumulative savings of the difference between the amount, which government could have released to the MDAs based on appropriation, and actual amount released and paid through the IPPIS.
The Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Bukar Aji, recently said that through the screening carried out by the IPPIS, it was discovered that 1,050 civil servants, who ought to have retired from the service long before now, were still in the government’s employ.
He said that the discovery would create room for the promotion of legitimate civil servants, while more workers would be employed.
Aji said that plans were underway to enrol all federal universities, polytechnics, colleges of education as well as paramilitary agencies on the IPPIS platform.
In spite of the perceptible feats of the IPPIS, observers insist that the scheme has some glitches which, though under-reported, may lead to the scheme’s collapse if stringent measures are not taken to curb the challenges.
They cite the protest of some interns at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi-Araba, Lagos, over the non-payment of their seven months’ salary as one of the problems induced by the implementation of the IPPIS.
The interns, who comprise doctors, pharmacists and others, vowed not to return to work until the arrears of their salaries were paid in full.
The hospital’s management blamed the non-payment of the interns’ salary on the implementation of the newly introduced IPPIS.
Besides, the staff of the Psychiatric Teaching Hospital in Abeokuta recently embarked on a warning strike to protest against the problems they were having with their salaries under the IPPIS scheme.
The two demonstrations aptly reflect the complaints of several government workers about the non-payment of their salaries, owing to the implementation of the IPPIS.
These complaints, perhaps, led to the organisation of a stakeholders’ meeting by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to highlight and discuss the salient problems that are encountered during the implementation of the IPPIS.
Speaking on the protest of the workers of the Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, Mrs Hadijat Abdullateef, the Head of the IPPIS Unit at the hospital, said that the problems had to do some system errors.
“There were some errors and I kept making corrections that were not reflected in the system no matter how much I tried.
“Because of this, the workers felt I am not doing anything, they felt that we, the handlers of the scheme, are not effective; and so, they went on strike for three days.
“We have people who were employed last year with necessary approvals and documentation; and they were paid for just one month in August, while the system keeps omitting their names for payment.
“Another case that amazes me is when someone is paid from January to November and then, the same person is not paid in December. Upon investigation, we were told that it was because of wrong bank account number.
“So, what has the IPPIS been using to pay that particular worker from January to November?’’ she asked.
Such instances appear numerous, as several government workers grumble about salary payment hitches that are attributable to the implementation of the IPPIS.
For instance, Amina Mohammed, a worker in the Federal Ministry of Works, said that it took over six months for the IPPIS to pay her a month’s salary that was skipped for no reason.
Also, Suzanna Jemedafe, an employee of Police Service Commission, recalled that in June last year, her salary was withheld because she did not have a bank account number that compliant with the Nigerian Uniform Bank Account Number (NUBAN).
“After that, I went to my desk officer and complained. In fact, we were many officers with similar complaints but up till now, we have yet to be paid; I had to take a loan to enable me to survive,’’ she said.
However, Mede, who is also the Coordinator of IPPIS at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, conceded that the IPPIS indeed had some hitches which would be duly addressed over time.
“I know that some MDAs have been having problems such as salary delays, wrong grade level placements and so on.
“But it will interest you to know that most of these challenges are due to wrong documentation or late submission of the correct information to guarantee early payment,’’ she said.
Mede noted that like any new policy, the IPPIS surely had some teething problems, adding that in due time, workers would no longer have any hitches with regard to the payment of their salaries.
She, nonetheless, urged all government workers to have NUBAN bank accounts, saying that this was the major challenge facing the IPPIS Office in its efforts to pay workers’ salary.
She said that the IPPIS was designed to electronically make payments to workers’ bank accounts via the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System, adding, however, that only NUBAN account numbers were recognised by the system.
Mede, however, assured all the workers, whose salaries had yet to be paid, that the monies were still in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“No matter how long it takes, all the salary arrears will be paid,’’ she added.
This assurance, nonetheless, compels many observers to wonder how affected civil servants, who supposedly have no other sources of income, would be able to cope while waiting for the IPPIS to sort things out.
Nevertheless, Mrs Olukemi Arodudu, the Deputy Director (Expenditure), the Budget Office of the Federation, warned that MDAs must necessarily get approval from the Budget Office before employing new staff.
She underscored the need to get such approvals because the money provided for any MDA in a fiscal year did not take cognisance of new staff employment and increment of salaries due to promotion.
All the same, the Head of the Civil Service stressed the need for all the stakeholders in the civil service to synergise so as to enable the IPPIS scheme to work.
Aji said that the IPPIS would drastically reduce corruption in the system if its handlers were careful enough to feed the system with the correct information.
“Do not compromise your position as IPPIS officers in your various MDAs for any form of corruption through wrong input of data such as date of birth and date of appointment into the database.
“Doing so is a form of corruption and any officer caught doing that will face the full wrath of the law,’’ he said.
Observers are, however, of the opinion that the designers of the IPPIS ought to ensure that the system works speedily and efficiently to enable it to gain wider public acceptance.
They also underscore the need to make concerted efforts to check the activities of some unscrupulous persons who may want to frustrate the IPPIS, as part their plot to ensure that corruption continues to thrive in the government agencies.
Ishaya is of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Rachael Ishaya