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Tag: NSITF board

  • NSITF board pledges to deliver on mandate

    The new board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has promised to deliver on the vision and mission of the Fund.

    The board said high performance would be achieved in line with the provisions of the law establishing the Fund.

    Its Chairman, Austin Enejamo-Isire, said this in Lagos when the board members paid a condolence visit to the late Dr Mohammed Yinusa’s family, a member of the board who died recently.

    Until his death, Yinusa was the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) President and represented NECA on the NSITF Board.

    Enejamo-Isire, who quoted the Fund’s vision to be the “leading social security institution in Africa, leading the change agenda, social policies, economic empowerment and poverty alleviation in Nigeria, said the Board will engage more on advocacy for employers and other stakeholders to embrace the scheme.

    He said: “That is the vision of the fund; that is what this new board wants to pursue and realise, because in realising that, the mission has also stated that a deliberate proactive action in the provision of social security protection is safety net for all Nigerians.”

    He described the late Yinusa as a man with enormous capacity, huge professionalism and well-packaged in such a way that will attract anyone, and regretted that members were not able to strategise long enough in moving the board to the desired level before his sudden death.

    On more awareness for the scheme, he said: “When you propagate what is the inherent benefit in any policy; be it social or commercial, if that benefit is properly sent across to the beneficiaries, they will embrace the scheme.

    “We can only ask that the human capital content of the Fund be embedded into a team spirit for us to deliver this result. We know we are on course to delivering qualitative service to Nigerians and can set the standard for social security delivery in the African continent.

    “We will try and see how we can key into creating awareness and sending this message into the sub-consciousness of the employers, and if that is done, you need not to preach further, the people will embrace the scheme naturally.”

  • Presidency backs Ngige on NSITF board

    The Presidency has intervened in the leadership crisis of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) which has pitched the Nigeria Labour Union (NLC) against the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.

    The Presidency yesterday recognised the appointment of Mr. Austin Enejamo-Isire, a Chartered Accountant, as the rightful chairman of NSITF.

    It noted that Comrade Frank Kokori was pencilled down for the headship of Labour Training Institute, said a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.

    The Presidency also expressed deep concern and regrets over the turn of events that culminated in a skirmish at the private home of the minister in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    Condemning the picketing of the minister’s home, the Presidency also appealed for calm, saying efforts were on to resolve the issue.

    The statement reads: “Following the disagreement between the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the appointment of the chairman of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the Presidency wishes to clarify as follows:

    “That the NSITF is 100 per cent Federal Government of Nigeria-owned insurance parastatal, under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment designed for the role of insuring workers (employees) in the public and private sectors. The organisation is empowered by law to implement the Employee Compensation Act (ECA) 2010 with mandate to insure workers and pay them compensation for accidents, deaths and injuries in the course of work.

    “The NSITF was bedevilled and riddled with corruption between 2012 and 2015, which resulted in a colossal loss and mismanagement of about N48 billion out of the total N62 billion contributions during the period.

    “These were contributions by the employers – viz government and the private sector – for payment of compensation to workers and even to employers for loss of man-hours by their workers. This fraud has been investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the last chairman and some members of the former board and some officials of the NSITF are presently being prosecuted by the EFCC.

    “All actions taken by the Minister of Labour and Employment towards the resuscitation and repositioning of this ailing agency, including the Administrative Panel of Inquiry into the affairs of NSITF and the suspension of the inauguration of the board in 2018, were part of the special work plan approved for the Honourable Minister by Mr. President.

    “The appointment of the Chairman of this board, which is in consonance with Section 4(a) of the NSITF Act CAP N88 of 2004, was also approved by Mr. President since July 23, 2018, on the recommendation of the Minister.  Mr. Austin Enejamo-Isire, a Chartered Accountant, Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and renowned Insurance expert, Senior Member, Chartered Institute of Insurance of Nigeria (CIIN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), was approved by Mr. President for this position. Also approved by Mr. President were the Managing Director and three Executive Directors, who had assumed duties since April 18, 2017.

    “Others also approved as non-executive directors are: two members to represent the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), two members to represent the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and one member each to represent the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. Members of this board are to be formally inaugurated at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 13 (today) by the Minister of Labour and Employment at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, Abuja.

    “Comrade Frank Kokori, our respected veteran labour leader, has Mr. President’s immense respect and has also been appointed on the recommendation of the Minister of Labour and Employment to chair the board of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS),  a diploma-awarding labour institution…”

    Also, the NLC last night dismissed claims by the Presidency that the NSITF is a 100 per cent Federal Government establishment.

    The umbrella labour union said the response of the Presidency to the crisis between labour and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngigie, over the board of the fund was coming late.

    Reacting to a statement by the Special Adviser (SA) to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, NLC President Ayuba Wabba blamed the government for the prolonged controversy on the matter.

    The union leader said if the government had offered its position earlier, labour would not have wasted its time.

    In a telephone interview, he said: “The issue has dragged on for two and a half years and the response is certainly coming late. We ought to have known the position of government. But you know after two and a half years, it is coming late because these are the issues we have written severally on; we have campaigned severally about it and in all our meetings, including the delegates’ conference, we have talked about it.

    “One: it is about inaugurating the board because all the Federal Government board of parastatals were inaugurated more than two years ago. But this particular board was singled out, and inauguration has not taken place and somebody has continued to run the place as a sole administrator, appointing people and also exercising the powers of the board. Nowhere in the Act has such a power been given to one person. That is why we have been so concerned.

    “For instance, overnight he employed over 300 people without advertisement and most of them from his village. Nowhere has such power been granted to anybody. This is what we have raised and that is why the first agitation was about inaugurating the board.

    “The issue of Frank Kokori was something that was introduced much later because in the first place, we were not even aware that Kokori was appointed as the chairman of the board. It is the same minister that informed us after inviting Kokori on various occasions.”

  • NLC threatens to picket ministry over NSITF board

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) are heading for a showdown with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.

    Their grouse is about the non-inauguration of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) with veteran former General Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Frank Kokori, as its chairman.

    The two bodies yesterday gave indication that they will picket every agency and place that has the interest of the minister and apply every other legal means to ensure that he does the right thing.

    They said Ngige allegedly confessed to them that he was not comfortable with Kokori heading the board because of his rigidity.

    But the minister insisted that he never nominated Kokori to head the NSITF board.

    Ngige said he was not bothered about the threat to picket the ministry but would remain on the side of the law.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba and his NUPENG counterpart, Williams Akporeha, said it had become “evidently clear that the Minister of Labour and Employment is adamant on perpetually appropriating the NSITF in sole partnership”.

    Accusing the minister of feeding the public with incorrect information about his reason for not inaugurating the board, Wabba said Ngigie had told him that he was not comfortable with Kokori heading the board.

    He alleged that the delay was as a result of NLC’s delay in forwarding the names of its nominees to the board.

    Brandishing a letter, dated March 28, addressed to the minister, Wabba said the laws establishing the NSITF stipulate that it should have a board which will serve as an advisory body.

    According to him, running the fund in the past four years without a board was illegal and an affront on the laws of the country.

    Quoting from the letter, Wabba said: “Since President Muhammadu Buhari approved the reconstitution of the board of the NSITF, I recalled meeting with you on four different occasions on this matter. At our first meeting, you expressed dissatisfaction with the choice of Comrade Frank Kokori as the board chairman of NSITF.

    “I remember vividly that I reminded you of Kokori’s track record of capacity and integrity and thus his suitability to head the NSITF board, especially given the scandals that trailed past NSITF boards and given the fact that Kokori is perceived as being too rigid and honest.”

    Wabba claimed that the minister replied to the letter, following its receipt at the ministry.

    The NLC President said the minister resorted to various tactics to avoid inaugurating the board headed by Kokori, even after he was screened and cleared as competent to head the board.

    He added that Ngige’s choice to replace Kokori on the board did not pass through any security screening.

     

  • Activists hail Kokori’s replacement on NSITF board

    Activists, under the aegis of Citizens Watch Advocacy Movement, have said the replacement of a former General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union (NUPENG), Frank Kokori, with a renowned chartered accountant, insurance and taxation expert, Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire, as the chairman of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is an impeccable choice.

    They said it showed a resounding vote for merit at a time competence was in shackles.

    A statement in Abuja, the nation’s capital, by its National President, Mohammed Ibn Yunusa and Secretary, Mark Ekine, urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba to stop annexing the platform and essence of labour unionism for narrow, personal gains.

    The statement reads: “It is high time selfish interests gave way to the interest of the nation. NSITF is a specialised agency which must be managed in line with the agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    “The current administration, from our investigation, inherited an NSITF with bastardised procurement process, an NSITF in which N62 billion was eaten by locusts. It was an agency in which N5 billion disappeared on a single a day without vouchers; an agency that could not pay the salaries and allowances of its workers, an agency some of whose regional and branch offices, such as the ones in Rivers, Imo and Jigawa states, were shut down for non-remittance of taxes. It was an NSITF whose workers stagnated for six years without promotion that Buhari inherited.

    “In that respect, we wish to state that with non-professionals currently serving as the Managing Director and executive directors of the NSITF, the appointment of a thoroughbred professional as the chairman of the board must be applauded by all Nigerians except those who are enemies of the nation.

    “Kokori is no doubt a foremost labour leader and activist, a patriotic Nigerian whose contributions to the cause of democracy cannot be written off. But we are talking of the NSITF whose fortunes slid so badly that it needs professional repositioning by a board chairman with sound pedigree in allied professions. The choice of Isere is by this fact unimpeachable.

    “A time is here, therefore, for Nigerians to urge NLC President Ayuba Wabba to cease annexing the vehicle and essence of labour unionism for selfish pursuits. One wonders why Wabba lost his voice when N62 billion developed wings under the last NSITF board in which NLC was fully represented. In that period, when the ship of the NSITF floundered on the rock of incompetence and squander-mania, where was Wabba?”

    “What muted Wabba’s voice as he came on board as the NLC President and saw the scandalous pillage at the NSITF? Does that ominous silence confirm whispers in some circles that oozing filth from the fund conduced to the sponsorship of his election against Ajero in the then NLC?

    “Indeed, the fact that the NLC President is fighting the Minister of Labour and Employment for recommending the appointment of Kokori as the Chairman of Michael Imodu Institute of Labour Studies, a diploma-awarding institution, where his mine of knowledge in labour activism will be made available for the present and future generations of labour enthusiasts, clearly exposes an ulterior motive.

    “Importantly, it’s opportune that Wabba be educated that the NSITF fund is not ‘workers’ money’, as he has ignorantly been selling to the public. The fund does not subsist on workers’ salaries. It is rather an equivalent of insurance premium, contributed by employers in the private and public sectors for the benefit of the workers and the employers. Any worker who suffers injury or death in the course of work, as well as his employer, has equal right to seek indemnity from the fund.”

    “We hence invite Wabba to properly read the provisions of the Employee Compensation Act 2010 setting up the agency to avoid misleading Nigerian workers or misinform the public at large. One bane of leadership in our dear nation is the dying culture of readership. Most of our leaders neither read nor employ competent people to read for them.”

    The activists hailed the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for being dispassionate and staying on the side of the truth on this matter.

    “After all, both Kokori and Isere are Delta indigenes,” they said, adding: Did Senator Ngige nominate an Igbo to replace Kokori? No.

    “We finally wish to point out, for the records, that neither the chief executive nor the chairman of the board of the three corporations under the Ministry of Labour, namely NSITF, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the National Productivity Centre (NPC), is   Igbo, contrary to what obtains in most of the agencies.

    “Yet, Ngige has raised no hoot as a patriotic Nigerian. This is the way to lead.”