13th December, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Federal Executive Council (FEC), chaired by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday removed the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Former President Muhammadu Buhari had placed ASUU on the IPPIS which led to a prolonged strike by the lecturers who rejected it in totality.
The removal of ASUU from IPPIS was one of the two major decisions taken at the FEC meeting on Wednesday.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said the government might extend the same exclusion to the armed forces as it also subjected the IPPIS platform to integrity test.
According to him, the government also promised to review the duty waivers granted to companies involved in backward integration.
He said the policy which was well intentioned has cost the treasury N1.3 trillion in lost revenue this year alone.
Onanuga added that in 2021, the government lost N2.29 trillion through the policy and N779.74bn in 2020.
He stated that because the waivers were backed by law, government intended to begin the review by first reviewing the operating laws, saying that Nigeria certainly needed to plug all revenue holes to fund next year’s N27 trillion budget.
Onanuga tweeted: “Federal Executive Council, chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took two major decisions at its meeting today. First, the council agreed to remove tertiary educational institutions from IPPIS, the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System which ASUU and other unions rejected and went on strike over under the Buhari administration.
“Government may extend the same exclusion to the armed forces as it also subjects the IPPIS platform to integrity test.
“Government also promised to review the duty waivers granted to companies involved in backward integration. The policy which was well intentioned has cost the treasury N1.3 trillion in lost revenue this year alone. In 2021, government lost N2.29 trillion through the policy and N779.74bn in 2020. Because the waivers are backed by law, government intends to begin the review by first reviewing the operating laws. Nigeria certainly needs to plug all revenue holes to fund next year’s N27 trillion budget.”