The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers, NUPENG, have rejected the move by the Federal Government to enroll their members into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System, IPPIS.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the Federal Government had issued a fresh directive to all staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, to enroll in the scheme on or before Thursday, June 18, 2020. The latest directive was extended to agencies and departments under the oil and gas sector.
Reacting through a protest letter to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva at the weekend, the unions said that their members would not enroll on the IPPIS until the issues relating to peculiarities in the sector are sorted out.
“We are in receipt of a copy of a directive from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation directing federal ministries, departments and agencies to enroll on IPPIS on or before Thursday, June 18, 2020, threatening to stop further release of personnel cost if the directive is ignored.
“Please be informed that the association/union’s apprehension about IPPIS stems from the fact that it discountenances the peculiarities of the oil and gas industry, with regard to the collective bargaining agreement and approved pay structure between the unions and federal government through the Income, Salaries and Wages Commission,” the letter, sighted by ThisDay, read.
In the protest letter signed by the PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa and NUPENG’s General Secretary, Okaleye Afolabi, the union said they were surprised that the Accountant-General was ignoring the existing payment platform, Government Integrated Financial Management Information System, GIFMIS.
“We reiterate that industrial peace in the sector cannot be guaranteed if the salaries of our members are stopped or if the implementation is carried out unilaterally without our input,” it said.
The two unions said they are expecting the minister to use his good offices to prevail on the Accountant-General not to implement the directive on the enrollment into IPPIS until the issue around it are amicably resolved.
