The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has attributed the ongoing salary disruptions in federal tertiary institutions to a hasty and improperly executed switch from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).
Ogunjimi made this known on Monday in Abuja during a one-day interactive session involving vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and regulatory bodies of federal tertiary institutions.
The meeting was organized to address persistent challenges in payroll processing and disbursement of salaries.
According to him, the failure to adhere to proper technical transition guidelines has led to widespread complaints, including delayed salaries, unremitted third-party deductions, and missing pension contributions.
“Since I assumed office in March 2025, my office has been overwhelmed with petitions from Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), State Internal Revenue Services, microcredit organisations, and labour unions over persistent non-remittance of statutory deductions,” Ogunjimi stated.
He assured stakeholders that the government is taking steps to resolve the issues and restore confidence in the salary administration process across federal institutions.
“In response to these developments, an Interministerial Technical Committee was constituted to design a smooth migration strategy,” Ogunjimi said.
“The report of that committee recommended that the October 2024 payroll be completed using the IPPIS platform, while preparations for transitioning to GIFMIS should begin immediately.”
According to him, “The committee outlined that all staff records in tertiary institutions should be validated and uploaded to GIFMIS by October 31, 2024. It also specified that access to the personnel management line on the new platform be granted to the relevant institutional role players by that date. October 31 was fixed as the terminal date for all payroll operations under IPPIS.”
The committee’s recommendations also included running trial payrolls for November and December using IPPIS for data processing, with actual salary payments carried out through GIFMIS. IPPIS was expected to carry out a final validation and sign-off by December 31, 2024.
Additionally, the committee urged the Federal Government to settle outstanding salary arrears, promotion benefits, and third-party remittances, while calling for full institutional compliance with all applicable rules.
“Failure to comply with the recommendation to prepare a trial payroll for the remaining two months (November and December) of the year 2024, along with IPPIS and the abrupt migration to GIFMIS in the last quarter of the year, heightened some of the challenges experienced,” Ogunjimi stated.
To address the resulting fallout, he said his office has held several consultative meetings with stakeholders, including the bursars of various institutions.
He also revealed that a joint training programme with the Association of Bursars of Nigerian Universities (ABNU) has been approved to help institutions navigate the technicalities of GIFMIS.
“Despite all these steps, I still receive catalogues of complaints from the institutions,” he said, adding that the current session was intended to foster collaboration, resolve outstanding issues, and formulate practical solutions.
Ogunjimi reassured participants that insights gathered during the engagement would inform the structure of the planned training initiative, and encouraged institutions to maximize the opportunity when it commences.
Also speaking at the event, the Auditor-General for the Federation, Dr. Shaakaa Chira, commended the AGF’s move to convene the meeting, describing it as both timely and strategic.
He emphasized that several financial management issues in federal tertiary institutions have lingered for years and now demand urgent resolution.
These include overpayments, irregular staff recruitment, unremitted statutory deductions, breaches in payroll integration procedures, and disbursement of unauthorised allowances.
“The prevalence of these issues often results in audit queries, surcharges, loss of public funds, and in some instances, reputational damage to the affected institutions,” Chira warned.
He called on institutions to be open about the operational challenges they face, including delays in IPPIS-GIFMIS integration, misclassification of deductions, and sluggish third-party remittances.
Chira pledged support from the Office of the Auditor-General, assuring collaboration with the AGF, regulatory agencies, and institutional leadership to enhance systems, boost compliance, and ensure sound public financial management.
He further urged institutions to align with the ongoing reforms, highlighting the importance of a payroll and accounting system that matches the complexity and realities of Nigeria’s tertiary education system.