In a major push to tackle the menace of ghost workers, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has initiated a comprehensive re-engineering of payroll processes under the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The new framework places greater operational responsibility on Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), requiring them to act as core budget owners responsible for the active management and accounting of their nominal rolls and personnel budgets.
Under the revised directive, which takes immediate effect, no newly recruited personnel will be admitted onto the Federal Government payroll without first being properly captured on their respective MDA’s nominal roll and meeting rigorous vetting criteria.
MDAs are now mandated to formally submit admission requests to the OAGF backed by authentic recruitment approvals, official appointment letters, employment waivers, and comprehensive documentation detailing salary structures, grade levels, steps, allowances, and other financial entitlements.
The strengthened validation mechanism incorporates statutory compliance checks, including verification of Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) data, pension identification numbers, National Housing Fund (NHF) registrations, and active tax records to guarantee precise deductions and prompt remittances.
The clearance workflow requires initial validation by the OAGF before documents are routed back to the parent MDA for thorough confirmation and endorsement by key internal authorities including the Accounting Officer, Director of Human Resources, Director of Finance and Accounts, and the designated Payroll Validating Officer prior to final greenlighting by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
To enforce absolute compliance, the OAGF has issued strict warnings to Permanent Secretaries and agency heads, noting that any staff record carrying incomplete documentation or unresolved discrepancies will face immediate deferral. Additionally, processing and approving officers will face direct administrative accountability for any regulatory breaches, marking a zero-tolerance stance against payroll leakages in the federal civil service.
