Michael Jegede l Monday, March 16, 2020
LAGOS, Nigeria – The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has rejected the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which did not put into consideration the peculiarities of the Colleges of Education Subsector (COES).
In a statement issued in Abuja, the President of COEASU, Mr. Nuhu Ogirima, described as unacceptable the decision of the Federal Government to ignore the agreement and understanding it had with the union prior to the implementation of the IPPIS.
Ogirima in the statement said: “The attention of the National Secretariat has been drawn to the payment of February 2020 salary to staff of the Federal Colleges of Education by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).
From the information available, it is quite evident that the peculiarities of the Colleges of Education subsector, which the stakeholders’ meetings with IPPIS office, prior to its implementation, harped on as the basis of rejection of the obnoxious pay platform, have not been reflected. For the avoidance of doubt, the February salary paid by FGN did not include the Peculiar Allowances of the staff of the subsector, especially the Peculiar Earned Academic Allowance (PEAA).
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“Also not paid are staff on Sabbatical Leave. In addition, deductions were effected on all staff salary, indiscriminately, for the National Housing Fund (NHF), a voluntary scheme to which most staff did not subscribe. Whereas FGN deducted its own statutory deductions, the non-statutory deduction of staff necessary for their well-being, especially Staff Cooperative Society contributions were not made.
“Sadly, pension and the imposed obnoxious tax deductions were effected on gross earning of staff, which included non-taxable Allowances) as against the basic salary on which such deductions ought to be effected.”
Noting that the action of Federal Government was a breach of trust, COEASU says “The impunity with which FGN has engendered this anomaly goes to further heighten our fears and reinforces our concern over the wanton neglect of the Colleges of Education subsector by successive administrations, which peaked with the current government.
The Union, therefore, wishes to state, without equivocation, that, while reiterating the initial worries on the concern over the use of IPPIS in COE system, as a tertiary institution, the FGN, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) in particular, should, as a matter of urgent concern, capable of disrupting the smooth running of the COEs, take urgent steps to ameliorate the situation.”
The academic body disclosed that the Expanded National Executive Council (ENEC) meeting shall be reconvened “to deliberate on further necessary action on IPPIS and other lingering issues of industrial concern, including but not limited to the inconclusive renegotiation, the unfulfilled N15bn Needs Assessment palliative and the sum of N2.5bn unpaid arrears of Peculiar Allowances.”
