Federal Government has inaugurated a committee tasked with reviewing workers payroll system, the contentious Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to address irregularities and block all leakages.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, disclosed this while inaugurating the Presidential Steering Committee on behalf of President Muhammadu Bihari in Abuja.
Pantami, who is expected to chair the committee, said the systems have technical challenges, which needed to be corrected, pointing out that the committee’s mandate will be to proffer solutions to the possible leakages in the systems unscrupulous elements were exploiting to divert public funds.
“President Buhari has mandated the technical committee through a letter requesting his approval to review some of the technical processes and systems deployed in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“It will serve as the Presidential Committee with the mandate of ensuring review of the systems and the challenges and weaknesses. The committee will advise the President on how to improve the systems, especially if there are leakages being exploited by corrupt persons.
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“The issue came about on July 19, 2022 when we had a meeting with the President along with other ministries where some technical issues and some challenges were discussed,” he said.
The minister recalled that the process of deploying the Integrated Payment Platform Integrated System (IPPIS) commenced in 2012, while the TSA commenced in 2015.
Pantami further explained that at the time they were deployed, provision of section A of the National Integrated Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Act 2006 of setting the standardisation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) deployment in public institutions was not followed.
“The three systems were not subjected to government certification and clearance of Information Technology Project, as encouraged by law and other government policies.
“However, in spite of that, their deployment has recorded several achievements. For example, based on the report from relevant institutions, the IPPIS saved N120 billion, while the TSA saved over N10 trillion for the government,” he said.
He noted that the records showed that the government had recorded some gains particularly in the recent allegations on the system by people who siphoned money, adding: “Because of this, we must identified the challenges and see how the systems can be enhanced technically to consolidate the gains achieved so far and improve on them to achieve more results.
“Looking at its mandate, NITDA will serve as the secretariat. The approval and the directive have specified that all government institutions that manage the three systems should give unrestrained access to the committee to ensure strong recommendations for approval.”
The minister warned that any institution that failed to give access would be reported to President Bihari and thereafter sanctioned, stressing that the committee, which would be supervised by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, as well as other relevant government institutions will sanitise the systems against manipulation and corrupt tendencies.
Members of the committee include NITDA, Galaxy Backbone, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission (NSWIC), the Bureau of Public Service and Reformation (BPSR) and the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
