NLC DEMANDS THE URGENT INTERVENTION OF GOVERNMENT ON IPPIS

NLC/NS/A.42

                                                                                              18th August 2020

Hajia Zainab Shamshuna

Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning

Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning

Finance Complex – Abuja

REQUEST FOR YOUR URGENT INTERVENTION IN THE BREWING CRISIS IN NIGERIA’S TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS OVER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTEGRATED PAYROLL PERSONNEL INFORMATION SYSTEM AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL CONCERNS IN OUR IVORY TOWERS

We bring you fraternal greetings from Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

Owing to the difficulties occasioned by the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Integrated System being encountered by workers including those belonging to our affiliate unions in the tertiary education sub-sector which had earlier accepted the IPPIS platform, the Nigeria Labour Congress hosted a meeting of the leadership of all the affected industrial unions. The unions in attendance included Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU); Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU); Senior Staff Association of Polytechnics (SSANIP); Senior Staff Union of in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN); National Association of Academic Technologist (NAAT); Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP); and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU).  

In the course of the meeting, the following issues were identified as the major concerns of our workers and affiliate unions;

  1. Challenges Associated with the Payment of Salaries
  1. Not all staff were captured especially those on study leave outside the country;
  2. There are some who were captured on the IPPIS but not pay-rolled. These staff have not received their salary since February 2020;
  3. There are workers who were captured, and pay-rolled but are not being paid or are being paid less than what they should earn. Some of the specific nuances in this regard include:
  4. Those captured, pay-rolled, and paid for only two months before the payments stopped;
  5. Those whose biometrics were captured but their names are still not on the IPPIS Portal;
  6. Existing workers who are tagged as “Ghost Workers”;
  7. Earned Allowances as approved by the 2009 Agreement are not captured on the IPPIS Platform; and
  8. Taxations are arbitrary and very high, sometimes reduce workers’ salaries to almost nothing.
  • Delay in the Payment of Salaries: Except for the month of May 2020, a pattern of delayed salary payment is being entrenched as salaries are now being paid on the 15th of the succeeding month;
  • Non-Remittance of Statutory Deductions (February to date)
  • Taxes
  • NHF – No data and no remittance
  • Contributory Pension
  • Union Dues
  • Non-Remittance of Non-Statutory Deductions
  • Staff Cooperatives
  • Non-Payment of Consequential Minimum Wage Adjustment Arrears;
  • Stoppage of the Payment of Sabbatical Allowance;
  • Status of Demonstration Schools; Demonstration schools are basic requirement for colleges of education. They are like laboratories. It is a basic requirement for graduation;

A National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) judgement and a National University Commission (NUC) circular has put this matter to rest. Yet, this is not implemented on IPPIS.

  • Non-remittance of statutory deduction from the payment of promotion arrears of 2013 – 2017. These statutory dues were deducted but never remitted to the affected unions till date.
  • Non-Issuance of Pay Slip to Workers.
  • Stoppage of Professional Allowances Earned by Technologists through the 2009 Agreement. These agreements include occupational hazard allowance, SWEP, responsibility allowances etc.
  1. The failure of the IPPIS System to capture the retirement age of workers in tertiary institutions as 65 years contrary to extant agreements and government circulars to this effect.

Honourable Minister, our affiliate unions have written several letters of complaint on the foregoing issues in the past seven months without any improvement. Given that the peculiarities in the education sector were not captured on the IPPIS platform, we write to demand your urgent intervention into the challenges and difficulties faced by our workers and trade unions especially those in the tertiary education institutions.

Our Prayers

  1. That an urgent stakeholders’ meeting of all relevant ministries and the affected trade unions be convened immediately to resolve the challenges associated with the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System; and
  • That urgent steps be taken to address other non-IPPIS issues of conditions of service of workers in our tertiary education sub-sector.

Honourable Minister, we may not be able to guarantee industrial harmony in all our tertiary institutions if the foregoing concerns are not attended to and resolved immediately.

While we look forward to your response, please accept the renewed assurances of our highest esteem.

Comrade Ayuba Wabba, mni

President

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