…Says Force can’t tamper with existing structure
…Cautions on misplaced allegations
The Nigeria Police Force has blamed the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for the vexed and irritating discrepancies in the payment of salaries and duty allowances of its personnel in July last year.
The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, in response to the vexed issue of the disparity in the implementation of the salary increment to officers and men of the Force, said the “existing structure for computing and payment of salaries and allowances of all federal agencies rests squarely on the shoulders of the IPPIS and, therefore, is beyond its influence in operation.”
The Police, in a wireless message to all police units in the federation exonerated itself from the embarrassing disparity, declared that the IPPIS was the sole agency responsible for computing the salaries and allowances of all public servants in the country.
Handicaps
In apparent reaction to an exclusive investigative piece by Blueprint Weekend weeks ago, the leadership of the NPF washed off its hands off the discriminatory payment of the 20 per cent salary increment and six per cent duty allowance to its personnel, saying it was neither the responsibility of the police authorities to compute nor pay the personnel of the Force.
The IPPIS is a unit in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation which is used as a channel to document, compute and collate details of all in the employ of the federal civil service for the purposes of payment of salaries and allowances and other entitlements of the public servants.
In July, when the promised 20 per cent salary increment and six per cent duty allowances were eventually paid after 18 months delay, the personnel of the Force were piqued that officers on the same grade level and step and in some cases same unit were paid discriminatory salaries and allowances.
The development led to uneasy calm across the units of the Force across the federation, even as some feared a likely repeat of the #EndSARS debacle which not only embarrassed the federal government, but almost brought the country to its knees for weeks.
To douse tension, the NIGPOL FHQ Abuja issued a wireless message on September 20, 2022, directing all units to lecture its personnel on the development and particularly clarified that it was not responsible for the disparity noted in the July salary.
Entitled, CV/3940/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.46/5 Salary Arrangement X20 % Reviewed Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS) WEF January 2022, the statement recalled that implementation commenced in July with six months outstanding differentials, which it had earlier indicated would be paid subsequently effective August.
Though the outstanding was not paid as promised, the police leadership said in the above wireless message to wit: “INGENPOL you lecture officers and men yours x on personnel cost x that the IPPIS unit of OAGF has the sole responsibility of police personnel cost fund and payment of police personnel salaries respectively.
“It should be clarified that neither INGENPOLNOR NIGPOL PAB has any dealings with the already existing structure. However, because salary is welfare in nature the force follows up with IPPIS to ensure police personnel get their emoluments as at when due,” the message read.
Further, the IGP assured on the six months’ differentials, saying since the IPPIS is in possession of the approval, he is optimistic that the agency would respond accordingly.
“For the six months’ salary arrears differential IPPIS is in possession of the approval awaiting administrative procedures for cash-backing by the federal ministry of finance after which payment be effected.”
Caution
He warned the personnel against acting on any information contrary to what had been released, saying any such information should be ignored as fake news.
The IGP further directed unit heads to warn all personnel against acting in violation of the disciplinary code of the Force, stressing that such an act would attract severe disciplinary consequences.
Blueprint Weekend recalls that the disparity in the pay cheques of officers had generated hiccups as some had accused the leadership of the police of culpability in discriminatory payments, while others accused them of failing to protect the interest and welfare of personnel.
IPPIS challenges
Since its inception, the IPPIS system has received several knocks as workers generally complain of non-payment of allowances and arrears; non-remittance of loans to banks and cooperative organisations; unexplained deductions, non-remittance of union check-off dues; and non-issuance of paychecks.
Under the IPPIS, newly-employed workers spend several months without salaries, while many have complained of disparity in salary payment among officers on the same grade level.
In recent times, muted complaints against officials of the IPPIS have become rampant as key government agencies have pointed fingers on the IPPIS.
According to them, the agency has in recent times been alleged to have been compromised leading to prevalence of ghost workers as well as deliberate short-change of many MDAs in the disbursement of salaries and allowances to staff.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is among the many organisations that have disparaged the IPP IS, accusing it of using structures in the payment of salaries and allowances of public servants.
“We have not changed our position on the IPPIS. It lacks the flexibility to be deployed in the university system. Look at how they mutilating salaries of workers and coming up with cock and bull stories of tax deductions and others, the union had said and has still maintained its stance till date,” it had stated.
Similarly, workers of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had kicked against alleged unholy practices of the IPPIS, saying that rather than helping out it tends to aggravate the problems it was designed to solve.
CONPOSS
The Nigeria Police Force salary structure 2022 is based on Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS). It is the equivalent of the Nigeria Civil Service Grade Level. A Police recruit is on CONPOSS 1 which is similar to grade level 1. The annual salary of a police recruit on CONPOSS 1 is N121, 372. A police constable 11 earns N497, 962.00 annually, while a sergeant on CONPOSS 05 takes home N568, 812 annually.
An Inspector 1 on CONPOSS 08 earns N1, 497, 387 yearly, while a CONPOSSÂ 13 officer with the rank of Chief Superintendent of Police grosses an annual salary of N24, 700.00 and a COMPOL on CONPOSS 16 has an annual salary of N6, 200.4450 and so on.
STEPS is the number of years an officer has been on a particular rank. A Corporal on Step 3 is the same as a third-year corporal. The third-year corporal earns a little more than a first-year corporal.
Steps in the police force stop at 10 which is supposed to be the 10th year. However, an officer is most likely to be promoted to a new rank by his 5th year or earlier.
