The Federal Government has introduced stricter conditions for admitting newly recruited workers into its payroll.
Under the new rule, there will be multiple levels of verification and approval by the Accountant-General of the Federation is now compulsory before their salaries can be processed.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa. 
Going forward, no newly recruited federal employee will be enrolled in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) without first being captured in the nominal roll of the relevant ministry, department or agency (MDA) and satisfying all prescribed documentation and eligibility requirements.
The new policy, announced by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), also places greater responsibility on MDAs to account for their personnel records and salary budgets as part of efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and efficiency in the management of the Federal Government’s payroll.
The directive, which takes immediate effect, applies to all ongoing and subsequent processes for admitting newly recruited federal employees into the payroll.
The OAGF said the changes were part of efforts to re-engineer payroll administration under IPPIS and improve the management of government personnel records.
A major feature of the new arrangement is the requirement for every employing MDA to formally request the admission of newly recruited workers into the federal payroll, supported by relevant recruitment approvals, appointment letters, applicable waivers and other necessary documents.
The Accountant-General’s Office said these documents would be subjected to thorough examination before any employee could be considered for enrolment.
It explained that the verification would cover employees’ personal records, salary structures, grade levels, steps, allowances and other financial entitlements to ensure that the information submitted for payroll processing was accurate.
The exercise will also extend to statutory employee records, including Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) details, pension identification numbers, National Housing Fund (NHF) registration and tax records.
According to the OAGF, the checks are intended to ensure that deductions relating to pensions, housing contributions and taxes are properly calculated and remitted to the appropriate institutions.
The new procedure also establishes multiple layers of responsibility between the OAGF and the MDAs before a newly recruited worker can be admitted into the government payroll.
After completing its initial verification, the OAGF will forward the employee’s records to the relevant MDA for confirmation and endorsement by designated senior officials.
The officials required to endorse the records are the Accounting Officer, Director of Human Resources, Director of Finance and Accounts, and the designated Payroll Validating Officer.
The records will then be returned to the Accountant-General’s Office for final processing.
The OAGF stated that completing these stages would still not guarantee automatic admission, as final enrolment would depend on satisfactory completion of all the prescribed validation procedures and approval by the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The government has also warned that applications containing incomplete documentation or unresolved discrepancies will not be admitted into the payroll until the outstanding requirements have been met.
This means that newly recruited federal workers whose employment and personal records do not satisfy the prescribed conditions may have to wait before their salaries can be processed through IPPIS.
The directive further makes officials responsible for processing and approving payroll admissions accountable for any violation of the applicable rules and regulations.
The OAGF has consequently directed all Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Agencies and other relevant officers to ensure strict compliance with the new requirements.
The increased responsibility assigned to MDAs is also intended to strengthen their control over personnel expenditure, as the ministries and agencies are expected to maintain accurate nominal rolls and properly account for their personnel budgets.
By making MDAs responsible for confirming employee records at different stages of the process, the government is seeking to establish clearer lines of accountability between the institutions that recruit workers and the office responsible for processing their salaries.
