News

JUST IN: FG Exempts Universities, Polytechnics, Others From IPPIS

Published

5 months ago

December 13, 2023

The Federal Government on Wednesday approved the exemption of universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and other tertiary institutions of learning from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

It said, henceforth, remunerations to staff members of these institutions would no longer flow through the platform.

The Minister of the Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja.

The FG reasoned that the IPPIS does not afford tertiary institutions the freedom to run their affairs, Idris said.

He explained, “Today, the universities and other tertiary institutions have gotten a very big relief from the integrated personnel payroll and information system. You will recall that the university authorities and others have been clamouring for exempting the universities and other tertiary institutions from this system.

“Today, the Council has graciously approved that. What that means is that going forward, the universities, as the Honorable Minister of Education has said and other tertiary institutions, the polytechnics and colleges of education will be taken off the IPPIS.

“What that means in simple language is that the university authorities and other tertiary institutions will now pay their personnel from their own end instead of relying on the IPPIS.”

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, who explained the rationale for the Council’s decision, said the goal was to allow for the efficient running of public educational institutions nationwide.

He argued that Wednesday’s move is not connected to the integrity of IPPIS, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, or other similar systems advocated by various bodies.

Mamman said, “Simply, the president and the Council are just concerned about the efficiency of management of the universities, and so it has nothing to do with integrity or platform options.

“The president cannot understand why Vice Chancellors should be leaving their duty post and run to Abuja to get staff enlisted on IPPIS when they get recruited.

“The basic concern is that universities are governed by laws. And those laws give them autonomy in certain respects and most respects and the IPPIS has sort of eroded that autonomy granted universities is accordance with their act.”

In October 2006, the FG introduced the IPPIS as one of its reform initiatives for the effective storage of personnel records, saying the move would improve transparency and accountability.

IPPIS, which was expanded to cover all ministries, departments and agencies that draw personnel costs from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, has been touted by the government as a means of saving billions of Naira and improving transparency in salary payments.

However, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the umbrella body for lecturers in Nigerian universities, resisted the implementation of IPPIS within universities, arguing that it undermines university autonomy and does not accommodate the unique nature of academic work.

ASUU has instead proposed an alternative system called the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which they believe better addresses the peculiarities of the university system, such as sabbatical leave, adjunct engagements and part-time contracts.

ASUU and other academic unions argue that IPPIS centralisation impedes the governing councils’ ability to effectively manage personnel and payroll, affecting strategic planning and the autonomy of universities.

This has led to tensions and a protracted standoff, with ASUU continuing to push for the adoption of UTAS over IPPIS, which they see as a foreign-imposed system unsuitable for the Nigerian tertiary education sector.

Despite the government’s attempts to enforce IPPIS, ASUU has held firm, leading to strikes and disruptions in academic activities, including an eight-month hiatus in educational activities that ended in 2022.

More details to come…

News

Tinubu Appoints Wike’s Ex-chief Of Staff MD Ogun-Osun River Basin Authority

Published

26 mins ago

May 9, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Chukwuemeka Woke as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority.

Woke’s appointment was announced in a statement signed Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

The statement is titled ‘President Tinubu appoints managing director of Ogun-Osun river basin development authority.’

Woke succeeds Mr. Olufemi Odumosu who former President Muhammadu Buhari reappointed for a second four-year term in January 2021.

The Presidency described Woke as a “seasoned engineer and politician who…served as Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State and was Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, for many years.”

Ogun–Osun River Basin Development Authority is one of the 12 River Basin Development Authorities established by the Federal Government under Decrees 25 of 1976 and 31 of 1977.

A parastatal under the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority was formally launched on July 4, 1977 by the then Federal Commissioner (Minister) for Water Resources, Ibrahim EI Yakub.

News

Over 100 Priests, Palace Chiefs Storm Court For Oba Of Benin In Solidarity

Published

2 hours ago

May 9, 2024

Editor

Over 100 priests, priestesses and palace chiefs stormed the Edo State High Court on Thursday chanting curses against the enemies of the Oba at the resumed hearing of the case instituted by suspended Enigie (Duke) in Benin against Oba Ewuare II.

Two suspended Enigie (Dukes) of Evbuobanosa and Egbaen Siluko Dukedoms in Benin Kingdom, Prof Gregory Akenzua and Chief Edomwonyi Ogiegbaen had on behalf of some others, sued the monarch at Edo State High Court, challenging their suspension from offices.

Furthermore, the pair, speaking on behalf of others, asserted that their removal from their positions could only be done by the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, and not by the monarch who had suspended them for rebelling against his authority.

The High Court admitted the Benin Traditional Council, as a party in a suit instituted by suspended (Enigie) Dukes in Benin, against the Oba.

Ruling on a motion on Thursday, Justice Peter Akhihiero granted the first defendant’s application to include the Benin Traditional Council as the third defendant in the suit marked, B/250os/2023, while Oba Ewuare II and Edo State Government, are the first and second defendants respectively.

The ruling was in response to an application filed by the second defendant’s lead counsel, Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, Prof Edoba Omoregie and his team against the Claimants, Prof. Gregory Akenzua, and Edomwonyi Ogiegbaen who both took the Oba of Benin to court over their suspension as Dukes of Evbuobanosa and Egbaen Siluko Dukedoms in Edo South Senatorial District by Oba Ewuare II in 2023.

Justice Peter Akhihiero directed parties in the suit, Edo State Government represented by the State Attorney General and State Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, Oba Ewuare II, Prof. Gregory Akenzua and Edomwonyi Ogiegbaen, who were both represented by their counsels led by Dr. Osagie Obayuwana who had objected to the motion through the counsel of Oba Ewuare II, to amend their relevant documents in the case to reflect the decision.

While other parties in the suit aligned with the position of Oba Ewuare II’s counsel to join Benin Traditional Council, in the suit, the claimants, Prof. Gregory Akenzua and Edomwonyi Ogiegbaen through their counsel, Dr Obayuwana, prayed the court not to list the council as a party in the suit and urged the court to award cost against Oba of Benin in favour of the claimants.

But Justice Peter Akhihiero turned down the prayers and held that Obayuwana should not worry about the timing, insisting that, “The race is not for the swift, or the battle for the strong.

“If they are bringing in the Traditional Council as necessary, I don’t see this as a problem since you people have brought the Oba to court.

“I don’t think I can shut down any party. Let them come in and file their processes.”

Justice Akhihiero adjourned the hearing in the case till July 15, 2024, in the absence of any objection.

There was a heavy security presence at the premises of the State High Court Complex on Sapele Road in Benin City.

However, all those who came to the court in solidarity with the Oba were not allowed into the court due to their large numbers.

Groups and Edo sons and daughters, including members of the royal family and chiefs, displayed affection and solidarity for the Oba.

News

Senate Approves Death Penalty For Drug Offenders

Published

3 hours ago

May 9, 2024

Editor

The Senate on Thursday approved death penalty for dealers and importers of cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs into the country.

The proposed capital punishment also applies to manufacturing, trafficking, dealing in or delivery of hard drugs by any means.

The Senate arrived at the resolution on the floor of the red chamber after deliberations on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The maximum punishment in the extant law for offenders is life imprisonment.

During the consideration of the report on the bill for passage on Thursday, Senate Whip, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno South), recommended that the punishment of life imprisonment be “toughened” to death penalty.

The penalty for drug importation or dealership is captured in Section 11 of the extant law, which Ndume sought to be increased to a death sentence.

He said, “This (life imprisonment) should be changed to a death sentence. This is the standard worldwide. We have to do this to address this problem of drugs that has seriously affected our youths.

“It should be toughened beyond life imprisonment. It should be the death sentence, either by hanging or any way.”

This proposal did not sit well with some of his colleagues, including former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who took to the floor to voice out his reservations.

Oshiomhole told his colleagues that he would rarely joke with any matter concerning life and death.

“When a matter has to do with life and death, we should be accountable. Let’s divide the Senate. This is lawmaking. We are not here to take voice votes,” Oshiomhole said.

His position was overruled by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary.

Jibrin told Oshiomhole that he should have called for a division of the Senate immediately after the voting took place and before the Senate moved to another clause in the amendment bill.

“This is about procedure. You were supposed to call for a division; you didn’t do so. I am sorry, I can’t help you”, the DSP stood his ground and stuck with the decision of the Senate.

Similarly, Senator Sampson Ekong from Akwa Ibom State also kicked against the resolution of the Senate but he was overruled.

The Senate went ahead to pass the bill for a third reading.

The report on the bill was jointly produced by the Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters/Drugs and Narcotics.

Speaking with Senate correspondents after the plenary, the Chairman of the Joint Committee, Mohammed Monguno, said the Senate approved the death sentence, noting that the voices of Oshiomhole and others did not change the ruling of the presiding officer.

“The ruling of the presiding officer is the position of the Senate,” he added