Nigerian Government Set to Halt Salaries for Unverified Public Officers

The Nigerian government has announced its plan to stop the salaries of public officers whose records cannot be verified on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

The government’s decision aims to bring an end to discrepancies in the payroll system.

This crucial announcement was made public in a statement signed by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, and communicated by her Director of Communications, Mohammed Ahmed.

The verification process, which has been ongoing for two weeks, was initiated as an act of goodwill towards officers who did not participate in previous verifications. It is expected to conclude on Friday, October 27, 2023.

The statement shed light on the challenges encountered during the verification process, particularly the lack of orderliness in the initial days. These issues have since been addressed, and the ongoing verification is reported to be progressing smoothly.

Following the culmination of this exercise, the government will finalize the verification of records of all civil servants, and any officer whose record remains unverified will be removed from the government’s payroll.

The move to streamline payroll records began in 2013 when the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation took responsibility for cleansing records on the payroll.

In 2018, the physical verification phase commenced, during which 500 staff members from the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation were trained and dispatched to the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory.

This deployment aimed to enable officers to conduct physical verifications in their respective states, eliminating the need for them to travel to Abuja.

To accommodate officers who had not complied, the portal was reopened from October 3 to 13, 2023, ahead of the impending action against defaulters.

Notably, the number of workers on the Federal Government’s payroll has increased significantly, from 1.14 million in June 2020 to 1.5 million in August 2023. This surge is equivalent to 360,000 additional workers in approximately three years.

Data from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) revealed this increase, signifying the government’s dedication to tackling discrepancies and improving the accuracy of its records.