he Effect of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System on Payroll Fraud in Public Finance Management

Owing to widespread public demand for transparency in governance and public finance management issues of accountability is now of serious concern in many countries including Nigeria. This has necessitated the introduction of varied mechanisms and structures for public finance management. This mechanisms and structures in Nigeria include the introduction of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Integrated System (IPPIS). This study examined the effect of the IPPIS on payroll fraud in public finance management in Nigeria. The study is anchored on the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) as its theoretical consideration. The sample size of the study is 228 which was purposively derived from a population of 400 persons drawn from 13 purposively selected departments and agencies of the federal government. Data was generated using a 4-point Likert scale modified questionnaire. This was complimented by information gotten from Key Informant Interviews (KII) and from secondary sources such as books, journal articles and others. Generated data were analyzed via tables, percentages and qualitative content analysis, while hypothesis was tested by the use of chi-square. The study showed that the calculated chisquare of 67.64 is higher than the tabulated value of 9.49, implying that the IPPIS has significant effect on payroll fraud in Nigeria. The study thus, recommended that there should be regular audits and reconciliation of IPPIS data by the federal government authorities to ensure accuracy and detect potential fraudulent attempts.