No fewer than 5,000 federal civil servants who have discrepancies in their dates of first appointment and dates of birth may not receive their December salary, the National President, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Tommy Okon, has said.
Okon, however, explained that the union was working with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and it had forwarded the names of the affected workers to their Directors of Human Resources for confirmation.
The ASCSN President said 2,772 workers had been successfully restored to the payroll of the Federal Government after concluding their online and physical verification exercise.
He called on the Federal Government to expedite actions to ensure that the December salary of the civil servants who are undergoing different exercises to be reintegrated into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System was not delayed.
Okon urged members of ASCSN who were affected by the reintegration process to exercise patience, promising that the union was doing everything within the ambit of the law to ensure that the issues were resolved expeditiously.
Addressing the journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, the union leader said: “The physical verification exercise of the 17,000 core civil servants who were delisted from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System was concluded in October 2023 and those involved were in high spirits waiting for their monthly salary which was stopped since September 2023 to be restored.
“As of today, only those who had earlier completed their verification exercise but were mistakenly delisted have had their salaries restored while 5,000 civil servants still have discrepancies in their date of first appointment and date of birth.
“A total of 2,772 have been verified and forwarded to IPPIS for payment because there were no issues. The names of 5,000 workers who have discrepancies are to be forwarded to their DHR for confirmation.
“There are six teams working tirelessly to ensure that the exercise is completed on time. It is advisable for public servants to develop the habit of checking the HOS website for regular updates. We have confirmed that the salary for the month of November 2023 is concluded, therefore, those affected will not be able to get their salary for the month of November.
“However, the effort is been made by the HOSF to ensure that those cleared will get their salaries for December 2023 including the arrears from September.
“We appeal to the Federal Government through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to expedite action to ensure that the salary of December is not delayed.”
Speaking on the controversy generated by the Permanent Secretaries promotion exam, the ASCSN President, said: “Let me also invite your attention to what we call miscarriage of facts by the social media handlers on the recent promotion examination for directors aspiring to the office of the Permanent Secretary and a faceless group called senior civil servants.’
“We have followed with great concern and dismay, recent publications in a section of the social media claiming that civil servants called for the cancellation of the promotion exams for directors aspiring to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Federal Civil Service.
“The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria is a registered and recognised trade union listed in the Third Schedule of the Trade Unions Act as well as by the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.
“Therefore, it is absolutely unacceptable and questionable for the purported group to propagate the alleged comments of faceless individuals who claim to be civil servants as though their opinions are those of the entirety of the service.
“What is more disturbing, is the demand of the group to circumvent meritocracy in the civil service with regards to the very critical task of selecting eligible directors for appointment to the post of Permanent Secretary. The question is, who in a sane and contemporary clime does that?”
