Africa Press-Nigeria:
As part of efforts geared toward ending the menace of ghost workers in the civil service, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday threatened that only Federal staff who have so far been captured on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) will receive salary going forward.
President Buhari issued the threat notice, during the presentation of the 2021 budget proposal to the joint session of the National Assembly.
He expressed optimism that the “ongoing IPPIS verification exercise has closed gaps that encourage ghost workers or pensioners.”
He observed that personnel cost is still our largest single item of expenditure, adding that “in the seven months to 31st July 2020, it accounted for 34 percent of total Federal Government spending and is projected at 33 percent of 2021 expenditure.
“To check the incidence of payments to non-existent personnel and unauthorised allowances, only Federal staff that have been captured on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform will receive salaries.
“All agencies have been directed to ensure that they obtain all necessary approvals before embarking on any fresh recruitment.
“Any breach of these directives will be severely sanctioned,” he warned.
President Buhari also reiterated the present administration’s resolve towards implementing measures that are necessary for sustainable public finance, better allocation of our scarce resources and improved public service delivery.
According to him, while implementing these reforms, Federal Government will also implement social safety nets to cushion the effect of the most vulnerable of our citizens as well as business owners.
