Pay N30,000 Minimum Wage, April, FG Directs …ASUU Rejects FG’s Personnel Payroll System

With the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari to the new minimum wage of N30,000, there is no other hurdle barring state governments, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) from implementing the new pay structure, the Federal Government has said.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who made the clarification, said, yesterday, that there was no other requirement on the part of the government for the commencement of the payment of the new wage.
The minister’s explanation came amid a report that his office was yet to release a certain instrument authorising payment, the absence of which would unduly delay the takeoff date of the new pay.
Malami said that the signing into law by Mr. President on April 18, completed the process of implementing the new wage, which takes effect from this month (April).
According to the minister, the minimum wage law does not authorize the office of the AGF to do anything more for payment to commence once the President has given his assent to the bill.
He said: “The incidence, operation and application of law are automatic unless otherwise stated by its commencement provision. The new minimum wage law is automatic and envisages no further action on the part of the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation, not having been so mandated by the enabling law.
“Bureaucratic processes are not rooted in the action or inaction of the Attorney General, legal obligation having arisen by the commencement of the law upon assent by the President.
“Ministries, departments and agencies of government are automatically expected to execute their own side of statutory obligations in giving effect to the law that has taken effect and remains applicable, valid and subsisting.
“This is a law the application of which commences upon assent by the President”.
The report, yesterday, had said that the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) had blamed the delay on paying the new wage on non-release of a copy of the Act to enable it prepare the memo for state governments to commence payment.
The Chief Press Secretary of the agency, Mr Emma Njoku, was also quoted as saying that they were still expecting a signed copy of the Act assented to by Mr. President.
But, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, was quoted as saying that there was no issue to be sorted out again once the President had directed that the new pay should start in April.
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected a move by the Federal Government to use the 2019 personnel verification exercise to forcefully incorporate lecturers into the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPS).
President of the Union, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi stated this in a letter written to Chapter Chairmen of the Union, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Ibadan by the Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Professor Deji Omole.
The statement directed all members not to fill the 2019 Personnel Data Verification Form being distributed by the Budget Office of the federation.
Ogunyemi simply described the verification form as dubious.
According to Ogunyemi, while the Union was not against any verification exercise, the form of the exercise being distributed requires the supply of “IPPIS number” implying a dubious trap to forcefully migrate the Union members into the IPPIS.
“The attention of the leadership of the ASUU has been drawn to a circular from the budget office of the federation directing members of our union to participate in a Personnel Verification Exercise designed for selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies. An item on the form requires the supply of “IPPIS no”.
“This suggests that the so-called exercise is a disguised way of bringing back the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which our Union rejected in the past with informed arguments. All chairpersons are advised against falling into the trap of forceful migration to the IPPIS.
“All chairpersons are strongly advised to discourage their members from completing the form under reference until the Union review its position on the IPPS.”
Speaking further on the Directive, Professor Deji Omole stated that current IPPIS program does not accommodate the peculiarities of the job of university lecturers.
He noted that while the government has promised to revisit the design of the IPPIS, it has refused to do anything since the Union made its position known in 2014.
“The current state of IPPIS cannot accommodate the peculiarities of our job as scholars. Members should equally recall that the union has been engaging the federal government with a view to making relevant authorities to appreciate the implications and position of ASUU on the matter since 2014. Pending the resolution of the matter evidence of which shall be communicated to all members, no member of the union is allowed to enlist in the IPPIS,” Omole said.