FG Halts Salaries for Non-IPPIS Workers in N5.5tn Payroll Clean-Up

The Federal Government is set to implement a bold move to streamline its public workforce and enhance financial transparency. As reported by Infostride News, this initiative involves suspending the salaries of public officers whose records cannot be verified on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). The decision was officially announced in a statement by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan.

The move to suspend salaries comes after Infostride News had previously reported that an extension was granted to workers to verify their personal information, with the threat of salary seizure for October 2023 for those who failed to comply. The official statement stressed that the two-week verification period, ending on Friday, was an act of leniency offered to officers who had not participated in earlier verifications.

The statement clarified the situation, stating, “Adequate arrangements were put in place for a smooth exercise in designated areas of the FCT; however, the officers’ impatience and lack of orderliness in the first two days made the exercise rowdy. This has been duly addressed, and the two-week exercise, scheduled to end on Friday, October 27, 2023, is progressing very well. The verification of records of all civil servants will be finalized at the end of the ongoing exercise, and any officer whose record could not be verified will be delisted from the payroll of the government.”

It’s essential to provide some context for this development. In 2013, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation was tasked with cleansing the records on the payroll, as it is the central repository of official records and information on all public servants. To leverage technology, the office introduced a verification portal in April 2017, directing all public servants to perform online updates of their records. An intensive awareness campaign was conducted through various media channels, both official and social.

Initially, a three-month window was given for compliance, which was subsequently extended to one year, allowing officers ample time to update their records. In 2018, the second phase of the exercise, involving physical verification, began. The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation trained and deployed 500 staff to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, facilitating the physical verification process for officers, thereby saving them the need to travel to Abuja.

Some officers who had initially failed to comply were granted a last opportunity to update their records. The portal was reopened from October 3 to 13, 2023, providing them with a final chance to ensure their information was accurate and up to date before the impending actions against defaulters.

It is worth noting that the number of workers on the Federal Government’s payroll has increased significantly, rising from 1.14 million in June 2020 to 1.5 million in August 2023, which is an increase of 360,000 workers within a span of three years. This increase occurred despite the identification and elimination of approximately 70,000 ghost workers in June 2022, thanks to the efforts of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

The director-general of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, disclosed that the Federal Government’s personnel cost had surged to over N5 trillion by August 2023, covering 1.5 million workers. This underscores the importance of ensuring that the payroll is accurate and only includes legitimate employees. The IPPIS has not only exposed and eliminated ghost workers but also resulted in significant cost savings for the government.

Dr. Dasuki Arabi, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, emphasized the positive impact of the IPPIS. He stated that about 70,000 ghost workers had been removed from the payroll, saving the government at least N220 billion. Furthermore, the IPPIS has played a crucial role in reducing the Federal Civil Service’s personnel count to 720,000, contributing to fiscal discipline and efficiency.

It is essential to recognize that this is not the first instance of the government taking decisive action in this regard. In July 2021, the Federal Government suspended the salaries of 300 workers across various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the federal civil service for failing to update their records on the IPPIS. By July 2022, approximately 61,446 civil servants from various MDAs had been verified on the IPPIS, and 3,657 civil servants were reported to the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission for prosecution due to their failure to complete the verification process.

The issue of personnel costs is a significant concern for the government. Data from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper 2024-2026 indicated that personnel costs were expected to consume approximately N14.87 trillion over three years. The budget allocation for personnel costs had also increased from N4.34 trillion in 2022 to N5.51 trillion in the proposed 2024 budget, signaling a rise of N1.17 trillion or 26.96% in three years.

This rise in personnel costs has raised concerns among experts and organizations. They believe that this trend is worrisome, especially given the country’s increasing debt burden and infrastructure challenges. In May 2021, the Federal Government, through the former Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, had expressed its commitment to reducing the high cost of governance by eliminating unnecessary expenditures, which could potentially include salary reductions for workers.

In a previous report, Infostride News highlighted that the Federal Government intended to allocate 61.63% of its planned 2024 expenses to personnel and debt service costs. This signifies a substantial portion of the budget going towards salary payments and servicing debt. The projected personnel and pension costs, along with debt service costs, made up a significant portion of the N16.03 trillion budget in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper 2024-2026.

It is clear that personnel costs are a significant component of the government’s expenditure, and managing them efficiently is crucial to ensuring fiscal sustainability. The statement by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation underscores the government’s commitment to addressing this issue by eliminating ghost workers and ensuring that only valid employees receive their salaries. This move aligns with the government’s broader efforts to enhance financial transparency and improve the efficiency of public administration.