By Dwelleth Morountodun
In the bid to stem wanton impunity, sharp practices and fraud, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan on Monday,
inaugurated the committee on enrolment of newly recruited civil servants on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
She said that the inauguration of the committee became necessary in order to address irregularities in the recruitment of officers by Ministries, Extra- Ministerial Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
According to her, it is disheartening that a large number of fake appointment letters were being discovered in some Ministries, which if not properly addressed, would lead to the denial of employment to a great number of prospective and eligible law-abiding job seekers in the country.
She said the Office is already collaborating with security agencies to investigate and bring to book those behind this fraud, she added.
She expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for the implementation of the Human Resource (HR) module of the IPPIS. She added that the Office was committed to a transparent, accountable and uncompromised IPPIS platform that will rid the system of ghost workers, reduce personnel cost and enhance economic planning.
She enjoined members of the committee to view the assignment as a matter of national importance, which demanded their wealth of experience and hard work in ensuring a reliable and credible IPPIS platform.
In his response, the Chairman of the Committee and Permanent Secretary, Career Management, OHCSF, Mr. Mamman Mahmuda, said the Committee will carry out the assignment with all sense of responsibility, with a view to achieving the civil service that would be the pride of all.
The Committee’s terms of reference include: identifying the challenges associated with the old process to guide the new process, examining the new processes of enrolling newly recruited officers on the IPPIS platform.
The others include identifying the benefits derivable from the new process including cost-saving, where possible, initiating the process of enrolling new employees on the IPPIS platform guided by the new procedure, ensuring that the enrolment of new employees on IPPIS is based on the approved waivers from the OHCSF, treating and capturing all backlogs of newly recruited Officers based on the new procedure, subject to authentication of appointment letters, approved waivers; financial clearance and Federal Character Commission Compliance Certificate, where applicable.
The committee is also saddled with the responsibility of recommending appropriate sanctions on defaulting MDAs, and individuals identified to have abused, breached or manipulated the process, ensuring no further enrolment of newly recruited Officers on the IPPIS platform is done without the approval of the committee, liaising with major IPPIS Control Officers especially the OHCSF, OAGF, FCSC and other relevant MDAs for the necessary information that would facilitate the seamless conduct of the Committee’s assignments and identify and removing all officers illegally enrolled on the IPPIS platform including savings made, where possible.
The committee is expected to submit a monthly report on the number of staff captured or suspended on the IPPIS platform and