OAGF dispels salary delay fears over IPPIS upgrade

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has dismissed claims suggesting that October salaries of federal workers would be delayed due to an ongoing upgrade of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

In a statement signed and released by the Director, Press Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, on Wednesday, the OAGF said the upgrade was part of a planned consolidation of existing payroll systems and would not disrupt salary payments for the month.

The statement read, “The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has refuted recent reports circulating on social media claiming that a software upgrade within the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System will result in a delay of October salaries.”

For clarification, the OAGF explained that IPPIS previously operated three payroll platforms.

The Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System was introduced in 2007 as part of public service reforms aimed at curbing ghost workers and improving transparency in the Federal Government’s payroll.

The platform, managed by the OAGF, has since undergone several upgrades to improve accuracy and integration with other government financial systems.

In recent years, the IPPIS has faced intermittent technical challenges and resistance from some unions, particularly within the university system, but it remains the Federal Government’s central payroll platform for civil servants.

In 2024, one of the platforms was successfully migrated to the “SoftSuite” application, leaving the system with two active platforms: EBS and SoftSuite. Due to the suboptimal performance of the EBS platform, the Federal Government has decided to consolidate all payroll activities under the SoftSuite application.

The OAGF emphasised that the integration of all payroll processes into a single platform has been carefully managed, and while minor issues may arise during the transition, all observed errors and omissions are being addressed promptly.

The management does not anticipate any significant disruptions.

“This is not a new development, but a continuation of an earlier initiative to enhance efficiency and accuracy.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the migration currently being implemented is a continuation of an earlier effort to enhance efficiency and accuracy in payroll processing,” Bawa added.

According to him, the EBS platform had shown “suboptimal performance,” prompting the Federal Government to consolidate all payroll operations under the SoftSuite system.

“This process has been carefully managed. While minor issues may arise during the transition, all observed errors and omissions are being addressed promptly,” the OAGF added.