By Joan Nwagwu
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action in the payment of workers salary delisted by Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System(IPPIS).
Mr Etim Okon, ASCSN National President said this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
Okon said that government should ensure the payment of the salaries by December.
Over 17,000 government employees were said to have been delisted from the IPPIS portal, for not complying with a verification spanning over five years.
Okon said the physical verification of the 17, 000 Core civil servants that was delisted from the IPPIS have been concluded since October.
He said that those involved were eagerly waiting for their monthly salary which was stopped since Sept. to be restored.
“We have confirmed that the salary for the month of November has been concluded, therefore, those affected will not be able to get their salary for the month.
“However, effort is been made by the Head of Office of Service of the Federation (HOSF), to ensure that those cleared will get their salaries for December, including the arrears from September.
“We appeal to the government through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, to expedite action to ensure that December salary of December was paid on time,’he said.
He said that only those who had earlier completed their verification but were mistakenly delisted have had their salaries restored.
He said that, about 5,000 of civil servants still have discrepancies on their date of first appointment and date of birth.
Okon also said that a total of 2,772 have been verified and forwarded to IPPIS for payment as there were no issues.
He said that the names of 5,000 workers who have discrepancies were to be forwarded to their Director Human Resources for confirmation.
He added that there are six teams working tirelessly to ensure that the exercise was completed on time.
“It is advisable for a Public Servant to develop the habit of checking the HOS Website for regular updates ”he said.
On the issue of Permanent Secretaries promotion examination, said that news circulating in ,the social media was false.
“The recent publications in a section of the social media claiming that civil servants called for the cancellation of the promotion examination for Directors aspiring for the position of Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Civil Service.
“Our association is a registered and recognised trade union listed in the Third Schedule of the Trade Unions Act as well as by the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.
“Therefore, it is absolutely unacceptable and questionable for the purported group to propagate the alleged comments of faceless individuals who claim to be civil servants.
“What is more disturbing is the demand of the group to circumvent merit in the civil service with regards to the very critical task of selecting eligible Directors for appointment to the post of Permanent Secretary.
“Therefore, we will resist in its entirety, any calculated act to encourage mediocrity, disregard for extant rules and unprofessionalism in the Service ”he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)