NSITF seeks insurance coverage for NYSC members

The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund plans to expand insurance coverage to National Youth Service Corps members as it increases registration of corporate organisations to boost collection.

The NSITF Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, stated this during the agency’s retreat for the Committees on Labour and Employment of the Senate and House of Representatives in Lagos on Thursday.

Faleye said the NSITF had requested that the Federal Government issue a circular to ministries, departments and agencies directing immediate compliance to the Federal Executive Council’s approval for 1 per cent Employees’ Compensation Scheme deductions from MDA budgets.

He said the target of the agency was to provide insurance to youth corps members who were originally not included in the legislative framework in Section 84 (2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, declassify NSITF as a revenue-generating agency and increase the number of corporate organisations registered to NSITF by one million yearly.

“We want to look at the law and see where we need changes. You will agree with me that the Act needs tweaks here and there from the experiences we’ve gathered engaging the claims of participants. We must go back to the National Assembly and explain to them,” Faleye stated.

“Let me be clear, the NSITF is not a revenue-generating agency of the government. We are trustees, mandated by law to manage funds for the protection of Nigerian workers,” he added.

The NSITF boss disclosed plans to collaborate with the lawmakers to drive compliance, as many MDAs had not been serious about paying their emoluments to the fund.

 He also noted that as of July 2023, the agency processed and paid 103, 292 claims.

The General Manager of Compliance at NSITF, Kabiru Maaji, said that the agency projected to bring in not less than N180bn by collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria to get every corporate organisation registered and certified.

Maaji said, “We are working with the CAC, CBN, SON and PSN to enhance collections by getting employers of labour in their sectors registered. Since the agency started, it has registered only 167,000 employers covering 7.5 million employees. Our target is to increase it to at least 1 million per annum.”

He urged the government to also join in building the fund, noting that only about 15 per cent of contributions came from the government.

Senator Victor Umeh and other lawmakers pledged to support the NSITF leadership.

He commended the NSITF  boss for hosting a retreat for stakeholders.

A member of the House of Representatives, Peter Uzokwe, urged the agency to be lawful in the execution of its activities.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, Adefarati Adegboyega, urged the NSITF MD to build a stronger agency and fast-track full automation of the processes.

“We have assured him of our maximum support and anywhere we need to amend any section of the Act, we are ready to do that,” Adegboyega said.