Federal universities and several government agencies are grappling with severe salary delays following the federal government’s ongoing migration from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
The transition, initiated as part of broader financial reforms, has disrupted payroll processes, leaving many academic and non-academic staff unpaid for months. University unions and affected workers have raised alarms over the growing hardship among employees and their families.
A senior official at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that technical issues in aligning personnel data between IPPIS and GIFMIS are at the heart of the delays.
“The migration was meant to improve transparency and financial efficiency, but implementation gaps and poor synchronization of data have caused significant delays in disbursing salaries,” the official said.
University staff unions, including ASUU and NASU, have condemned the disruptions, demanding immediate intervention from the federal government. According to ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the situation is “unsustainable and a direct threat to industrial peace in the education sector.”
“University lecturers and workers are being owed months of salaries, with no clear communication or timeline for resolution. It is causing untold hardship,” Osodeke said in a statement.
The salary crisis is not limited to universities. Several ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) that have undergone the same migration process have also reported similar issues, fueling concerns over systemic inefficiencies in the government’s payroll transition plan.
Despite the challenges, the Ministry of Finance maintains that the move to GIFMIS is a necessary step toward curbing payroll fraud and improving accountability in public finance.
Officials have assured that technical teams are working round the clock to resolve the glitches, but unions say the government’s response so far has been slow and inadequate.
With mounting frustration among affected workers, there are growing fears of renewed industrial action, particularly from university unions that have previously staged prolonged strikes over funding and welfare issues.
As the nation watches closely, pressure is mounting on the federal government to act swiftly and restore confidence in its payroll management systems before the situation spirals into a full-blown crisis.
source: thenationonlineng.net
