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John Adams in Minna
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Minna said that those opposing the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) are economic saboteurs, saying there was no going back on it full implementation.
Buhari who stated this in his speech to the 29th Convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Minna insisted that the policy “is irreversible”.
According to the president, “the country is currently beset with multifaceted challenges, we are equally adopting a multi-prong approach in order to combat them.
“Our effort is appreciable and success recorded so far is also encouraging. Some of the solutions we have adopted may be painstaking, but we are resolute and confident that in the end our country will be a better place for all.
“Just as we are diversifying our economy, tapping into our strings of revenue to revamp our economy we have also remained resolute in ensuring that we plug the loopholes in public finance so as to eliminate fraud and retrieve funds which can be used to address challenges such as infrastructural deficit and unemployment.
“It is for this reason that my administration gave a directive that every employee of the Federal Government of Nigeria, including the federal universities must be enrolled in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS.
“This decision mindful as its sectoral policy is, is irreversible as such any opposition to this directive is an unwelcome tendency towards economic sabotage.”
The president said that the government would continue to revamp the education sector to make it deliver quality education to Nigerians, pointing out that it was why the second largest allocation of N150 billion was allocated to the sector in addition to another N272 billion to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
In his speech, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Abdullahi Bala said that 168 students were withdrawn from the institution during the academic year “for various reasons bordering on poor academic performance misconduct and abscondment.” Among those shown the exit doors were 120 undergraduate and 48 postgraduate students, Bala said, describing the action “as very painful but necessary” for the growth of the university, adding that the decision “will send a message to the students that we expect the best from them as much as possible.”
