Some time last month, August 2022, Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, for me, a man of proven integrity and one of the few sincere, honest and upright appointees of the Baba Buhari’s administration, openly told all those with listening ears and discerning minds that IPPIS is nothing but a scam, as its deployment did not follow the requisite laws of the National Information Technology and Development Agency (NITDA).
As reported by the Premium Times of August 12, 2022 – Sheikh Pantami told the world that there are allegations that, IPPIS, GIFMIS and TSA were used to syphon money from the treasury, hence the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the constitution of a Presidential Steering Committee on the technical review of the IPPIS and the two other systems.
After the “critical” review, according to Sheikh Pantami, “errors in high, medium and low magnitudes” were discovered.
Sheikh Pantami bluntly and frankly stated: “There is no doubt, we discovered there are errors. There are challenges with IPPIS. There is no doubt about this…..”
It is therefore safe to state that, IPPIS has been used as a conduit through which some highly-placed individuals under the leadership of one AKAWU (Accounts Clerk) to mutilate our meagre salaries to satisfy their greed of self-aggrandizement.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is presently in court with this AKAWU who is facing charges of multi-billion Naira theft.
From the foregoing, therefore, Nigerians, particularly the working class, should be grateful to ASUU for being the first union to expose the scam that is popularly known as IPPIS. Moreover, ASUU as a union of intellectuals did not only stop at whistle blowing, but provided more efficient alternative, UTAS, for free.
This anti-corruption crusade of ASUU is in line with Baba Buhari’s ideology of fighting corruption and indiscipline, which are part of the government’s cardinal agenda. In fact, Baba Buhari and his party largely rode on anti-corruption mantra to ascend to power in 2015.
Again, by exposing the scam in the IPPIS and the invention of a more efficient alternative, UTAS, ASUU as a union of patriots has saved billions of Naira for Nigeria that would have gone into the deep sea of the looters of our commonwealth.
For this singular act of patriotism, ASUU deserves the accolades of all patriots.
However, for those who steal from our commonwealth, their allies and attack dogs, ASUU is an enemy that must be crushed at all cost, hence the smear campaign.
So, it is now a fight between thieves and the real owners of the Nigerian state. I am sure Baba Buhari will support ASUU’s anti-corruption crusade to rid Nigeria of her enemies; the looters.
- Isa Sa’idu, PhD, is of the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
