FG uncovers 46,000 ghost workers, saves N119b

The Federal Government has set a December 2013 deadline for full implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management System and the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS), even as it has eliminated 46,000 ghost workers and saved N119 billion as a result of partial implementation of the IPPIS.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, made this known while inaugurating the Ministry of Finance Implementation Committee on IPPIS/GIFMIS.
The Minister said 153,019 staff from 215 MDAs have been captured under IPPIS while the remaining 321 MDAs will be captured before the end of the year.
Also, 58 per cent of the 2013 budget has been implemented through GIFMIS and it is expected that the whole budget will be implemented through this system.
Okonjo-Iweala explained that the committee is expected to work with the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to ensure the full implementation of these two electronic systems before the end of the year.
She said going by the results so far, the IPPIS, which aims at enhancing the efficiency of personnel cost, planning and budgeting and GIFMIS for improving the acquisition, utilization and conservation of public financial resources, could be adjudged as huge successes.
The implementation committee is chaired by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, while the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Director-General of the Budget Office are statutory members.
The committee also has some private sector practitioners as members.
The terms of reference of the committee, as enumerated by Okonjo-Iweala includes: identifying MDAs already connected to GIFMIS and IPPIS and establishing a list of those not currently on these platforms; reviewing the effectiveness of the operation of these systems with a view to identifying weaknesses in the internal control system and rectifying same.
The committee is alsoto define the modalities as well as implementation plan and also take appropriate actions to ensure that all MDAs are connected to these systems by the end of the year.
The committee is expected to submit monthly progress reports to the Minister and a comprehensive report and recommendations on the completion of its assignment.