How To Make IPPIS Serve Civil Service Better, By Olaopa
The Chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has explained how to make the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) serve the civil service better.
Olaopa spoke on Monday in Abuja during the Go-Live Ceremony and Official Launch of the IPPIS Human Resource Modules by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack.
In a goodwill message Olaopa delivered on the occasion, he said that after the Go Live and Launch, the IPPIS’ full complement of human resource modules should revolve round the change management creativity to, first, resolve subsisting gaps and opportunities for full public sector-wide adoption. He said that this should include getting total handle on the whole issue of data integrity, and system’s enhanced capability, and widening the scope of its benefit in deployment for the overall public administration system transformation.
He said that, for example, there should be sound explanation and resolution for the data verification lag discovered periodically, as in the discrepancies observed in personnel data generated with biometric checks, and those generated during physical verification.
Describing the launch as a heart-warming development, he said that it would allow over 600,000 civil servants to manage records, download payslips, and apply for leave digitally, from any location around the globe.
He noted that it would enable data-driven workforce planning and precise manpower forecasting.
He added that it would automate promotion tracking, disciplinary process logging, and grievance reporting.
“It is able to pair HR modules with structural frameworks like the Public Service Mentoring policy to bridge leadership succession gaps. It does mean that all hands must be on deck as we deploy creative change management strategies to transit from IPPIS as a monitoring tool to one owned by the workforce as personal asset.”, he said.
However, Olaopa stressed the importance of “appointing ‘digital ambassadors’ network of champions from the corps of tech-savvy junior and mid-level digital natives across the MDAs who will operate as local level help-service support to older officers and slow-learners, so they could catch up with the speed and timeline we envision for the employee self-service as a game changer in this whole dynamic.”
Olaopa noted that the launch was a culmination of a long journey in institutional reform. He recalled that he was the first IPPIS desk officer as the pioneer Director of Programmes at the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) when the IPPIS journey began with its initial conception in 2006, its pilot launch in 2007, and subsequent phased rollouts of partial modules.
“I am indeed delighted to have witnessed the unveiling of IPPIS modernised Employee Self-Service HR modules in June 2026, and now its official launch and the Go-Live event today.
“IPPIS has unarguably modernised personnel records and payroll information system in the federal service. This is not just in terms of the quantum of ghost workers that its biometric feature keeps eliminating. It has also pooled all workforce information that was in silos into a centralized database, while enabling automated monthly salary payments straight to employees’ bank accounts alongside transparent, direct third-party deductions like taxes, pensions, and cooperative dues.
Today we are going live as IPPIS deploys modern digital application features that enable civil servants to independently track records, generate payslips, and apply for annual leaves online”, he said.
Earlier, Walson-Jack said that the launch marked a significant milestone on the digital journey of the civil service.
Noting that the initiative aligned with the President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, she said for the civil service to deliver its mandate effectively, it must be supported by systems. According to her, this is why the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has been supporting systems that optimise productivity.
A significant feature of the system, according to Walson-Jack, is that it would stop the trend of lobbying in the civil service and strengthen internal control and oversight.
She said that the system would also help in planning and enable civil servants to manage information.
While urging officers to correctly use the system, she said that permanent secretaries, directors and others should demonstrate the leadership that would ensure its integration.