From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government has threatened to delist civil servants whose record cannot be verified on Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) after the ongoing verification exercise, which will end on October 27.
In a statement issued by Director Communications, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), Mohammed Ahmed, on Wednesday, said after the expiration of the two-week verification granted some errant officers, who failed to participate in the exercise, when they pleaded for last opportunity to comply after the IPPIS portal was shut down, those still to comply will be delisted.
He clarified that the Office of the Head of Service was forced to suspend the salaries of those who did not participate in the exercise with effect from September 2023 after devoting significant financial and human resources over a seven-year period to verifying the records of all civil servants on the IPPIS platform.
According to the statement, the officers were asked to come to Abuja for the physical verification exercise after the portal was reopened between October 3 and October 13, 2023, so they could update their records. This was because the office had already committed and used up all of the budgeted funds and was unable to send staff members to the states for the exercise.
Nevertheless, it said that despite preparations being made for a seamless drill in approved FCT locations, the officers’ agitation and disorderliness over the first two days of the exercise turned it into a noisy affair.
“This has been duly addressed and the two-week exercise, scheduled to end on Friday, October 27, 2023, is progressing very well.
“It should be noted that the aforementioned officers are the architects of their inconveniences for not being compliant with official directives. However, the verification of records of all civil servants will be finalised at the end of the ongoing exercise and any officer whose record could not be verified will be delisted from the payroll of government,” the statement said.
The Federal Government started implementing the IPPIS in 2007 in an effort to reduce leaks through personnel costs and the phenomenon of “ghost workers,” as well as to achieve transparency, correctness, safety, and dependability in the management of personnel records.
