Federal civil servants who gathered in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be captured by the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) have accused the government of neglecting them.
The verification exercise, which brought civil servants from all over Nigeria to Abuja, is meant to verify their appointments.
The exercise, meant for employees not yet captured by the IPPIS, is ongoing at the Public Service Institute at Kubwa and the Conference Hall of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
Related Posts:
A civil servant from Cross River State who chose to remain anonymous for fear of being victimised told The ICIR that nobody was attending to the workers at both venues, adding they had been stranded at the venues since Monday, October 16, when the exercise began.
He also lamented the suspension of their salaries by the Federal Government because the IPPIS did not capture them.
“Federal staff salaries have been stopped for two months. Staff are mandated to come to Abuja without salary. Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are suffering here.
“Even if you do that, are you supposed to stop people’s salaries? What they are doing is extremely wrong. You asked federal staff to move from their stations to Abuja, and the verification portal is not working,” the worker said.
Another civil servant who preferred anonymity told the online newspaper that no provision was made for accommodation, transportation and feeding despite the increasing costs of living and transportation in the city and the nation.
“I saw a woman and her little child sleeping on the floor when I left the venue around 8:30 p.m. yesterday.
“I also saw a woman with her newborn baby at the verification centre on Monday. It is a very serious issue,” said the worker.
But speaking to The ICIR on the matter, the Director of Information and Communication at the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mohammed Ahmed Abdullahi, blamed the unruly attitude of the civil servants for the delay in the verification.
He said the portal was working effectively.
“They are not being fair at all. We are supposed to be civil servants; we are supposed to be civil in all our conduct, both in the office and at home. They cannot control themselves, so they want us to get the Police or Civil Defence to go and put them on the line for them to be verified.
“They are all mature people; they have children at home. If they cannot control themselves, what moral justification do they have to control their children? They are adults. See them fighting, jumping fences, jumping railings, breaking properties, for what?’ Abdullahi asked.
He advised the workers to be calm and orderly. He said seven teams were at the Public Service Institute to attend to the workers.
Abdullahi added that the verification exercise was mainly to free the civil service of ghost workers.
But responding to Abdullahi’s claims, the civil servant who spoke to The ICIR said it was wrong to gather17,000 people in a place without proper and adequate preparation.
“We are not the ones that are supposed to be organised; we have close to 17,000 people there from across Nigeria. What can seven teams do? he asked.
He said there was no plan for accommodation, food, or other needs, even though the verification started on Monday.
The Federal Government directed all civil servants and workers whose details were yet to be captured by the IPPIS to partake in the verification exercise.
About 17,000 affected federal civil servants nationwide were expected to participate in the activity.
A circular dated October 3, 2023, was issued by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation with reference number HCSF/HRM/M.1125/T4/194 regarding the activity.
The ICIR reported that the Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Folashade Yemi-Esan, said 61,446 civil servants from various government ministries, departments, and agencies were verified on the IPPIS.
Yemi-Esan disclosed this during the 43rd Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House, Abuja, in July 2022.
She added that 3,657 civil servants were dragged to the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) over their failure to get verified on the platform.
According to her, at least 1,618 applicants floated illegal or fake appointment letters.
She added that 874 officers were suspended from the IPPIS platform.
(ICIR)
Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link to receive your daily dose of NEWS FLASH content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like.
