*Says FG has stopped Earned Allowances, Peculiar Allowances
*We’ll address all your challenges – FG
SENIOR Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, has said that their enrollment in the Federal Government introduced Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, has brought hardship to it members.
SSANU lamented that the government has withdrawn payments of their earned allowances and peculiar allowances since the introduction of IPPIS, thereby making life difficult for them during this period of lockdown.
But the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has told the University non-teaching staff to exercise patients, saying that efforts were being made to address the challenges.
He also noted that when IPPIS was introduced in the federal civil service, the hiccups were there but that they have been sorted out now.
The Minister while reacting to the lamentation of SSANU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, of being shortchanged said that the office of the Accountant General was handling all the complaints.
He said, “When IPPIS was introduced in the federal civil service, these hiccups were there. It took some time before they were rectified. We were being paid through IPPIS when I was in the National Assembly and we were complaining of excessive taxation at one time even now, but the good thing is that the IPPIS desk in the Accountant General Office is listening and they are addressing the issues. It will be rectified and once this is done they will pay the arrears or deductions.”
READ ALSO: IPPIS: SSANU, NAAT, set for showdown with FG
Asked why government rushed into the IPPIS policy when it was not prepared, Senator Ngige said,” The system has been in use, there is nothing like rushing in the implementation of the IPPIS. What I am telling you is that they have started in the universities and it is a computerized system sometimes it recognises garbage in garbage out.
“How many of those over-paid have come out to say that they were over -paid because there was also overpayment.. Why are they not shouting it?
“It will be rectified, it’s not enough to shout and say migrate us where we were before, the platform they were before doesn’t exist anymore.”
SSANU, through its National Vice President, North, Comrade Solomon Alfa, said that his union was initially reluctant to enroll in the IPPIS platform but had to change mind when government assured them that all their peculiarities would be addressed and that the platform would help curb corruption in the University system.
He said that it has been full of woes for them since February government started using the platform for their salary payment.
He said,” the FG said by December last year if you are not on IPPIS, no more salary we have been holding FG since 2014. They assured us that they will take care of our peculiarities.
“We voluntarily entered this because government promised us that our peculiarities would be captured, but three months down the line instead of our peculiarities to be captured, that has not been done instead our statutory allowances are also been do graded
“Three months running from February till now, the kind of shortages people are recording in their salary, is so much. How do you expect somebody to be losing almost N40, 000,N30,000,N20,000. How much is left for you? .
“Okey they now came and said they are no more implementing the agreement they entered in 2009,that they are no more going to implement it again, that it is not backed by circular from salaries and wages commission, they have suspended the earned allowance.
“Even the one that is a component of the salary, peculiar allowance, which is 53 percent of the basic salary they have withdrawn it. The say that it is not backed by circular from wages and salary commissions.
“IPPIS is at the Accountant General office, Salaries and Wages Commission, is a government parastatal, why can’t IPPIS and wages commission meet together and resolve the problem as it was paid before now.
“Three months, people are lockdown and you are not resolving it.”
