In a significant development, the salaries of federal civil servants who have failed to verify their details or enroll in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) will be suspended from November 2023, according to reliable sources.
This action follows a grace period of one month issued by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation. Sources with knowledge of the matter disclosed that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation had already temporarily suspended salaries of non-compliant civil servants for the month of August 2023.
An authoritative source, who chose to remain anonymous, emphasized that the grace period will conclude on October 27, 2023. The source cautioned that those who fail to utilize this opportunity will face the consequences of a salary suspension, which will take effect at the end of October.
Corroborating this information, a senior official within the civil service provided our correspondent with a letter issued by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. Dated October 3, 2023, the letter was addressed to all Permanent Secretaries.
The letter outlined the background of the verification exercise, which began in May 2017 and aimed to verify the records of staff in core ministries, departments, and agencies. Civil servants were initially sensitized to the importance of this activity through circulars. The Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) verification portal was established for civil servants to update their records, followed by a physical verification of submitted documents. The exercise concluded in April 2023.
After the verification exercise, the Accountant General of the Federation was directed to payroll only those civil servants whose records had been verified and uploaded to the IPPIS portal. Regrettably, some civil servants did not participate in the exercise or failed to complete it, resulting in the suspension of their salaries.
The letter specified that the affected officers fall into two categories: those who did not update their records online and those who updated their records but were unable to complete the process or print the registration slip.
To provide a last chance for these officers, the letter announced that the IPPIS verification portal (https://verification.jopis.gov.ng) would be open for them from October 3 to October 10, 2023. Subsequently, physical verification will occur from October 16 to October 27, 2023, at the Public Service Institute of Nigeria on Kubwa Expressway, Abuja, between 10 am and 4 pm on each day.
The letter emphasized that this is the final opportunity for the affected civil servants to complete the verification exercise.
This development underscores the government’s commitment to streamlining its payroll and personnel management system to ensure accuracy and efficiency.