Five thousand Federal Government workers may not receive their November and December salaries on time due to discrepancies in their records.

The National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Tommy Okon, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, November 28.

He said 2,772 workers had been confirmed and sent to the integrated payroll and personnel information system (IPPIS) for payment. However, there were still discrepancies in the dates of birth and first appointments of about 5,000 federal workers.

He said six teams were working to ensure the exercise finished on schedule. He also advised affected civil servants to regularly check the Head of Service of the Federation’s website for updates.

“As of today, only those who had earlier completed their verification exercise but were mistakenly delisted have had their salaries restored, while 5,000 civil servants still have discrepancies on their date of first appointment and dates of birth…

“It is advisable for a public servant to develop the habit of checking the HOS website for regular updates. We have confirmed that the salary for November 2023 is concluded. Therefore, those affected will not get their salaries for November,” he added.

He implored the Federal Government to find a quick solution to the problem.

Okon urged union members to be patient as, according to him, everything was being done within the limits of the law to ensure that the issues were resolved quickly.

He appealed to the Federal Government through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to expedite action to ensure that December salaries were not delayed.

The ICIR reported in October that federal civil servants who gathered in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be captured by the IPPIS accused the government of neglecting them.

The verification exercise brought civil servants from all over Nigeria to Abuja and was meant to verify their appointments.

The exercise, for employees yet to be captured by the IPPIS, took place at the Public Service Institute at Kubwa and the Conference Hall of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

A civil servant from Cross River State who chose to remain anonymous for fear of being victimised told The ICIR that nobody was attending to the workers at both venues, adding they were stranded for days.

He also lamented the suspension of their salaries by the Federal Government because the IPPIS did not capture them.

“Even if you do that, are you supposed to stop people’s salaries? What they are doing is extremely wrong. You asked federal staff to move from their stations to Abuja, and the verification portal is not working,” the worker said.

Another civil servant who preferred anonymity told The ICIR that no provision was made for accommodation, transportation, and feeding despite the increasing costs of living and transport in the city and the nation.

“I saw a woman and her little child sleeping on the floor when I left the venue around 8:30 p.m. yesterday.

“I also saw a woman with her newborn baby at the verification centre on Monday. It is a very serious issue,” said the worker.

But speaking to The ICIR on the matter, the Director of Information and Communication at the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mohammed Abdullahi, blamed the unruly attitude of the civil servants for the delay in the verification. He said the portal was working effectively.

Abdullahi added that the verification exercise was mainly to free the civil service of ghost workers.

About 17,000 affected federal civil servants nationwide participated in the activity.

A circular dated October 3, 2023, was issued by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation with reference number HCSF/HRM/M.1125/T4/194 regarding the activity.

The ICIR reported that the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Folashade Yemi-Esan, said 61,446 civil servants from various government ministries, departments, and agencies were verified on the IPPIS.

Yemi-Esan disclosed this during the 43rd Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House, Abuja, in July 2022.

She explained that 3,657 civil servants were dragged to the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) over their failure to get verified on the platform.

According to her, at least 1,618 applicants floated illegal or fake appointment letters, and 874 workers were suspended from the IPPIS platform.

Bankole ABE

Reporter at ICIR | [email protected] | Author Page

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