The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NSITF

  • Ngige’s hidden agenda

    Why is the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, opposed to the inauguration of a former Secretary-General of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Frank Kokori, as chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)? How did Ngige get President Muhammadu Buhari to review Kokori’s appointment as NSITF chairman?

    These questions naturally followed the April 18 disruption of a move by the minister to inaugurate the NSITF governing board at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity in Abuja. Protesting unionists disrupted the planned inauguration of an NSITF board without Kokori as chairman.

    An April 17 statement by the labour ministry, signed by the Assistant Director, Press, Rhoda Illiya, had announced Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire, a chartered accountant, as the new NSITF chairman approved by President Buhari. According to the statement, Chief Kokori had been appointed to head the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies. It’s unclear why Kokori’s initial appointment as NSITF chairman was reconsidered. The labour ministry explained that the change followed due process and had the approval of the President.

    Ngige claimed on Channels Television: “The truth of the matter is that labour made a recommendation for somebody to be chairman of the NSITF board. It was not in the labour’s ambit to do so. We have the NSITF Act. The power to make recommendations to the President or Acting President for the chairman of the NSITF board rests solely on the minister.” This suggests Ngige had recommended Kokori’s replacement. But who initially recommended Kokori for the NSITF position?

    President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba described as “falsehood of the highest order” Ngige’s claim that labour had recommended Kokori for the NSITF position. According to Wabba, Kokori “got his nomination to chair the Board of NSITF as a chieftain of the ruling party in Delta State and in his own right as a distinguished and forthright elder statesman.”

    About four months after Kokori’s appointment was announced in October 2017 by then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, Kokori had protested during the 14th edition of the Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture/Symposium held in Lagos on January 15, 2018:  “Today, my rights are being abridged by a minister. You have this Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) where Nigerian workers and employers contribute money to, their pensions, their gratuities, their compensations are all there. Anytime they put a board in place, the board will almost eat the whole money. Now they sacked the board, a woman was the chairman; they say they are looking for her…The government, in its wisdom, when Nigerian labour and organised private sector, NECA, went to meet the president and said, please this is our board, reconstitute this board for us…we have two members, NECA has two members, Central Bank has one member, just like that, and three executive directors, we want to protect our money.”

    Kokori continued:  “The Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, phoned me and congratulated me that the president has made me the chairman of the NSITF. I should come to Abuja for us to negotiate the inauguration. Since then…I go to Abuja every day. Ngige now runs the board. A board that was set up, where I am the chairman, I now go and beg Ngige every day. Let us swear in…he will say tomorrow he is going to bury his grandmother. The next day, he is going to a naming ceremony. Ngige has no time to swear in the board. He was busy employing hundreds and hundreds of his own community people until recently they had to stop him…Up till today, four months after I was appointed by the president Ngige runs the NSITF singlehandedly and as a minister, and he does what he likes. This is what we call impunity.” If Ngige had congratulated Kokori on his appointment as NSITF chairman, why is the minister singing a different tune now?

    A month later, Ngige inaugurated a nine-member Administrative Panel of Inquiry (API) to probe the finances of NSITF, saying the move was in line with the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption war.  Ngige had said: “The last Board and Administration of the NSITF left negative trails inimical to any advancement and progress for both the human and infrastructural components of the NSITF. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had discovered various acts of fraudulent diversions from the Federal Government and Private Sector Contributions amounting to N62.3 billion as at 2015, allegedly perpetrated by the past board and management staff of the NSITF.”

    It is noteworthy that the EFCC had arraigned a former NSITF managing director, Umar Munir Abubakar, and four others for alleged diversion of N18bn of the said money. The EFCC had also questioned and detained a former NSITF chairman, Dr. Ngozi Ojeleme, for alleged diversion of over $48m from the agency’s account.

    Following the disruption of the curious inauguration, Wabba had highlighted Ngige’s curious delaying tactics.  “The first was that the appointment was made by the Acting President and that he needed to revalidate it from the President which he did,” Wabba said. “The second reason was that there has been corruption in the place and that he needed to clean it up and we said there was no problem because we are against corruption.”

    Wabba alleged in his statement: “Perhaps, unknown to the Presidency, the Minister had within this period that he was the sole manager of NSITF, recruited hundreds of people, majority of whom are from his community. He has also been in the habit of forcing the approval of hundreds of millions of Naira for dubious induction trainings, procurement and monetisation of jeeps for himself and the Minister of State in the Ministry, among other spurious expenditure.”  Observers have noted that without a proper board, there are serious issues that cannot be properly addressed. The picture suggests Ngige has a hidden agenda.

    President Buhari’s aloofness is indefensible. The President needs to break the deadlock to show that he is not only in office but also in power. He must not give the impression that the issue is beyond his control.

  • Buhari approves appointment of NSITF board

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of members of the Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), a parastatal agency of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

    Mrs. Rhoda Iliya, Assistant Director Press in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja.

    According to Iliya, the board will be headed by Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire, a Chartered Accountant, professional Insurance Executive and Banker with Mrs. Ijeoma Okoronkwo as Secretary.

    “The names of other board members include Mr. Olawale, Osuolale Timothy, Dr. Mohammed Yinusa, Mr. Waheed Adeyanju, Mr. Ibrahim Khaleel, Dr. Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, Mrs. Dutse Aminu, “she said.

    She also said others members are Mr. Jasper Azutalam, Executive Director, Finance, Mr. Tijani Suleiman, Executive Admin, Mrs. Kemi Nelson, Executive Director, Operations and Mr. Ade Bayo Somefun, Managing Director & Chief Executive.

    She said the board would be inaugurated on Thursday, April 18, by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, in the Minister’s Conference Room, at 11: 00am.

    She also said that President Buhari has also approved the appointment of Comrade Ovie Kokori as the Chairman of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, Kwara State.

    She added that the appointment is with immediate effect. (NAN)

  • ECS: NSITF defers employers’ sanction for non-compliance

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) did not sanction employers for non-compliance with the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) to allow them more time to understand its implementation processes,  its Managing Director, Mr. Adebayo Somefun has said.

    He said in Abuja that the Fund was more interested in the growth of the scheme and not prioritising punishment of defaulters.

    Somefun insisted that sanction would eventually be meted to defaulters, adding that the Fund is  adopting the carrot and stick approach.

    He said: “We are not relying on the legal aspect to get employers to comply with the ECS yet. We are at this moment concentrating on selling the inherent benefits of the scheme. Eventually, there will be sanction for defaulting. But we are not going into that right now because the scheme is still young. We need to keep talking, persuading and enlightening all our critical stakeholders.”

    He said employers not participating in the scheme were not only depriving their employees the benefits of compensation when injured, but are denying themselves the opportunity of getting paid for loss of productivity when their workers are injured, and in no position to execute their tasks optimally.

    His said: “All employers of labour in Nigeria who are not participating in the scheme are denying their employees as well as Nigerians of the benefits of the compensation that this scheme offers. There is no need to worry about occupational hazard because we know that accidents are not planned occurrences and can happen any time.

    “In such times, the employer is insulated from settling medical expenses. In fact, the NSITF pays employers whose staffers are involved in accidents and loss of productivity due to the inability of such workers to perform their duties.

    “Again, if an employee dies in the course of duty, 90 per cent of his total remuneration is paid to the spouse until the last child is 21 years old or graduates from the university.

    “For example, if a worker dies while his last child is six months old, for the next 21 years, that family will receive 90 per cent of the terminal income of the deceased. So, there is no need to run to any uncle or family members when a worker dies in the course of work.”

    Somefun said the scheme seeks to protect family integrity, boost education and insulate families against becoming destitute after the demise of their bread winner.

    He said: “With 90 per cent of remuneration of the deceased paid directly to his wife, the standard of the family will not drop drastically. The beauty of this scheme is that the money is paid directly to the spouse and not to any extended family. So, families cannot get their hands on it. It is not a next-of-kin matter at all. Other benefits like gratuities and group life assurance are paid to whoever is the next-of-kin.”

    He also hinted that the Fund would reinforce its safety activities in 2019. “We have placed about 1,000 of our staffers on safety management. This will empower us to descend into the work arena to exercise one of our major mandates, which is to enforce health and safety in the work environment,” he said, adding that the Fund pays death benefits to 332 families monthly.

  • NECA to FG: Inaugurate boards of NSITF, PENCOM now

    The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called on the Federal Government to immediately inaugurate the boards of NSITF, PenCom and other Federal Government’s agencies, stressing that the current situation of non-functional boards is a violation of the laws setting up the agencies, and could erode the confidence of Nigerians in those agencies.

    Speaking in Lagos as a follow up to the recent investigative activity of the National Assembly on the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the Director-General of NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale said Section 19 of the Pension Reform Act 2014 provides for a Governing Board of PenCom, which is saddled with responsibilities.

    He said it is saddening to note that the board of the PenCom has not been constituted, adding that this raises a fundamental governance issue, as Contributors’ Funds are involved, being contributions from Employers and Workers in Nigeria.”

    He said: “The implication of the non-governance framework, which is to regulate the activities of these Agencies, three and half years down the line, is unfortunate especially for a government that prides itself in the rule of law. There is, therefore, no reason why boards of various government agencies should, not be urgently constituted and inaugurated to avoid eroding the confidence that had been built over the years by Nigerians, especially where contributors’ funds are involved and should be protected.”

    Olawale noted that the Acts establishing the various agencies had provided for the composition of the board members and in some instance “Institutional Representatives” to the boards are mentioned.

  • NSITF to extend coverage of compensation scheme to informal sector

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)  has said  plans are underway to expand the scope of the Fund’s  Employees’Compensation Scheme (ECS) to the informal sector of the economy.

    Its Managing Director, Mr.  Adebayo Somefun, stated this at the just-concluded Art and Culture Expo organised by the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) in Abuja.

    The NSITF boss explained that the move was intended to ensure that more workers benefit from the ECS coverage to execute their tasks without fear of occupational injuries.

    Somefun explained that though the informal sector  was difficult to organise, mechanisms would be put in place to organise them into groups for ease of administration.

    He urged  the sector to key into the social security scheme, saying: “The sector needs to understand, know and be convinced that the health insurance, contributory pension and employees’ compensation  scheme are all geared towards ensuring good life for all the workers. Integrating them into the scheme is a certainty if the country is desirous of covering most of its citizens, but the process has to be gradual.”

    He said  the  Fund was liaising with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), State Boards of Inland Revenue, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Federal Inland Revenue Service to get a comprehensive data of registered companies in the country.

    While the updating of records of existing organisations in its database is on going, he said the Fund has also put measures in place to encourage the 774 local government councils in the country to key into the scheme.

    According to Somefun, discussions and talks with non-treasury funded organisations and other agencies yet to key into the scheme are being pursued.

    Somefun, who decried  the high number of defaulting organisations, revealed that the management was already partnering with National Assembly committee with oversight functions on recalcitrant employers to enforce total compliance on defaulters.

    He explained that the urgent need for more companies and workers to join the scheme informed the decision of the Fund to participate in trade fairs and culture expos.

    “What we have been trying to do is to reach out to employers of labour and employees wherever they can be found. We know that a lot of people attend trade fairs and that presents an opportunity to meet them there.

    “The NSITF decided to attend the art and craft expo in Abuja because we discovered that a lot of foreign countries participate in the fair to showcase their cultural wares. At the expo, we were able to meet some embassies. The Indian embassy said it was not aware that employees’ compensation scheme exists in Nigeria. The embassy then invited us to their office to make presentation to their staff,” he said.

  • NSITF: we paid over N2.5b compensation in seven years

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has paid over N2.5 billion as compensation under its Employees Compensation Fund (ECF) since 2011 when it commenced operations to 2018, its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer,  Mr. Adebayo Somefun, has said.

    He said the Fund’s commitment to employees’ welfare was why the social security body has been proactive in providing social security and safety nets for Nigerians against deprivation and income insecurity, in accordance with national and international laws.

    Somefun made these known at the NSITF Open Day at the just-ended 32nd edition of the Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

    In his break down, Somefun, who was represented by the General Manager, Lagos Region, Mrs Olufunke Aleshinloye, said N918.6 million was paid as debt repayment; N790 million, for Medical Examination Report (MER); N194 million,  for disability benefits.

    “Loss of productivity paid to employers, where an employee cannot work due to sickness, disability or any reason, was N31 million with other payments made under Further Medical Treatment – two persons recommended and 34 artificial limbs given to injured employees,” he said.

    Somefun said contribution was made by employers, not employees and it was one per cent of emolument. He added that any employer that fails to remit was liable to face sanctions.

    Mrs Aleshinloye, who led visitors to NSITF’s stand, said the scheme provides compensation to employers in the event of death, injury, disability or disease arising out of or in the course of employment and for related matters.

    She said the scheme also provides compensation to dependants of an employee who dies in the course of work, adding that N1.5 million was recently paid to a deceased employee’s next of kin.

    She said though the scheme has an investment arm, claims are paid separately from another account. Payment duration also depends on the employer that gives correct information early.

    “Lagos region has over 20, 000 employees in the small, medium and corporate businesses under it and are divided into sectoral groups where probability for accidents are the criteria for grouping”, she added.

  • NSITF pays over 698 employees, families disability, death benefits

    Over 400 employees who sustained permanent disability from work place have all been placed on monthly allowance by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), irrespective of the medical bills footed by the scheme.

    Its Managing Director/CEO, Adebayo Somefun who spoke  at the NSITF-Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) SWIP 2017 South West Integrative Forum and Awards Ceremony in Lagos, said fore limbs and hind limbs were provided for 400 persons.

    He said 298 families have been compensated for the death of their family members, adding that these families are also placed on monthly allowance.

    He said: “Basically, the objective of the provision of health care service providers is to provide non-cash services to the injured employees, such as medical, surgical, hospitals, nursing, medicines,  and others.

    “The Fund has been providing artificial limbs/members.  From inception of the Fund to when this administration assumed duties, it had provided for only 12, but this administration has improved upon the achievements by paying for 42, bringing the total to 54.  Some of the beneficiaries are available here today to testify to the Fund’s responsiveness in this regard.”

    Somefun said to treat injuries to the parts of the body that are authorised to     be treated under the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act (or any other relevant Law) that permits such practice was part of the objectives of the scheme.

    According to him, some of the objectives of the scheme are; to give all reasonable and necessary information, advice and assistance to injured employee as may be required; to engage the services of relevant specialist where such is not readily available in-house subject to the approval of the Fund; to work in conjunction with the Fund and other relevant stakeholders to set up, review and to carry out other activities necessary for a Standard Medical Tariff (SMT) pursuant to  achieving the objectives of this engagement amongst others.

    The Director General, NECA, Mr Timothy Olawale said the group has effectively served as a veritable support pillar  to the Fund to deliver on its mandate to  members as vanguard of employers’ interest and as contributors to the fund.

    He said: “Also, we have provided the platform over the years for the Fund and employers to interact and resolve arising issues in the course of the implementation of the ECA 2010. The objective of which is to ensure that we are all happy and united in the path of advancing our mutual cause that we have to thread together.

    “Let me commend the management of the NSITF under the leadership of Barr Adebayo Somefun for keying into the laudable partnership that he met on ground and improving on it. We also commend the open door policy of management and their receptiveness of ideas and opinions that enhances their effective delivery of service.”

    In his presentation, Regional Human Resource Coordinator, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Chuma Nwankwo, said an employee shall be entitled to compensation for mental stress not resulting from an injury for which the employee is otherwise entitled to compensation, only if the mental stress is an acute reaction to a sudden and unexpected traumatic event arising out of or in the course of the employee’s employment.

    He added that an employee is entitled to payment of compensation with respect to any accident sustained while on the way between the place of work and the employee’s principal or secondary residence.

     

  • NSITF spends N835m on injured workers 

    Workers injured at work have received about N835 million from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) under its Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS).

    The Managing Director of the Fund, Adebayo Somefun, who disclosed this in Abuja, at the on-going Abuja International Trade Fair, said NSITF paid N203 million as medical refund, while N261 million was paid out for death benefits, disability beneficiaries got N74 million and N8 million was paid for loss of productivity for employers.

    He said the ECS covers injuries, mental stress, occupational diseases, hearing impairment, permanent or temporary disability and even vocational rehabilitation as well as benefits of deceased employees whose families’ fortunes are upheld even after the passing away of their bread winners.

    He argued that the social security scheme has served as an incentive for enhanced productivity and economic development as Nigerian workers are assured of a guaranteed livelihood.

    The NSITF boss added that the Fund procured 42 artificial limbs for workers who lost their limbs while carrying out their duties at work.

    “It would interest you to know that the 42 beneficiaries of the artificial limbs/parts are currently being fitted and trained on how to move on with their lives as we speak,” Somefun said.

    Somefun stressed that another 298 injured employees were on monthly or periodic payment, saying, “those on periodic payments are employees still in their productive years of 55 and below who are no longer functioning effectively because of workplace/related injuries. 20 persons above the age of 55 years have been paid lump sums on a once-off basis.”

    He further explained that in order to cushion the burden on families of deceased employees who died in the course of work, the Fund has paid 41 lump sums for accidents/diseases resulting in death of the employees and is currently paying 226 families monthly benefits, one of which receives N1.5 million monthly.

     

    also emphasises that failure to do so amounts to a breach of the law,” he said.

     

     

  • NSITF pays N546m to work place victims

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has so far paid over half a billion naira as compensation to victims of work place accident under the Employee Compensation Scheme since it’s inception.

    Managing Directorof the Fund, Adebayo Somefun, who stated this at the NSITFspecial day at the Abuja Trade fair, said a total of N545 million has so far been paid out by the fund.

    This include N202.9 million as Health Medical Refund,  N261 Million paid as Death Benefit, N74 million as Disability Benefit and N8 million paid to employers for Loss  of Productivity for employers (amongst others).

    He said  the ECS basically provides social security for employees who sustain injuries in the course of employment or their dependants in the case of death: it further encourages occupational safety and health standards in the workplace.

    He listed the contingencies covered by this unique scheme to include compensation for injuries, mental stress, occupational diseases, hearing impairment, permanent or temporary disability and even vocational rehabilitation as well as covering for benefits of deceased employees whose families’ fortunes are upheld even after the passing away of their bread winners.

    He stressed that all these have served as massive incentives for enhanced productivity and economic development as Nigerian workers are assured of a guaranteed livelihood.

    Speaking on the achievement of fund since it was established, Somefun said “as a Fund, NSITF has been making giant strides and in the last one year alone, the Fund has paid for 42 artificial limbs/parts to cater for workers who lost their limbs.

     

    etc: while carrying out their duties at work. It would interest you to know that the 42 beneficiaries of the artificial limbs/parts are currently being fitted and trained on how to move on with their lives as we speak.

    “However, it is not only about the limbs, the Employees’ Compensation Scheme provides for other categories of benefits. Between January 2017 and June 2013, the Fund has paid N835, 318, 858, 62Kobo to beneficiaries as claims and compensation”

    “This is to say that those who have benefitted from this special scheme run by the Fund include 298 injured employees placed on monthly or periodic payment. Those on periodic payments are employees still in their productive years of 55 and below who are no longer functioning effectively because of workplace/related injuries. Twenty (20) persons above the age of 55 years have been paid lump sums on a once-off basis.

    “In order to cushion the burden on families of deceased employees who died in the course of work, the Fund has paid forty-one (41) lump sums for accidents/diseases resulting in death of the employees and is currently paying 226 families monthly benefits, one of which receives N1.5 Million monthly.”

    He said further that to access these benefits, the employer – government or private/individual is required to pay onIy one percent (1%) of total payroll of the employees to the NSITF, and this is at no cost to the employee! Once that is done, it becomes the duty of NSITF to carry the burden which otherwise would have gone to the employer where there is a workplace injury, death or disability.

    He sais “the beauty of the scheme is that it is a “no-fault” scheme, and covers all categories of workers in every sector of employment. As the law enabling the scheme stipulates, every organisation that employs even one worker is under statutory obligation to register for the ECS: these include domestic staff. It also emphasises that failure to do so amounts to a breach of the law.

    “According to Section 73 of the EEA; “an employee means “a person employed by an employer under oral or written contract of employment whether on continuous part-time, temporary, apprenticeship or casual  basis and includes a domestic servant who is not a member of the family of the employer including any person employed in the Federal, State and local governments and any of the government agencies and in the formal and informal sectors of the economy.

    “While I reiterate that every Nigerian worker deserves the best and must be made to have a sense of value, let me state that when a worker knows that his future is secured in the case of injury while performing his functions, he/she has a deeper sense of commitment to the employer.

    “To make the process of keying into the scheme easier, the Fund has introduced a digital platform that is called Electronic Collection, Compliance and Compensation (EC4), to galvanise enforcement compliance, claims and compensation activities as well as the overall operations at the Fund. This enables employers to easily register, pay contributions, access their ECS status and make claims, all online and in real time from the comfort of their offices/ homes.”

    He expressed confidence that with its track record of successes in managing social security schemes since its establishment, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund is poised to undertake its mandate with impeccable responsibility. It is on this premise that we, not only celebrate the success story at the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, but urge and spur all employers to step forward and ensure the welfare of their employees.

  • NSITF: No easy battle against impunity

    Nothing illustrates vividly the utter reign of impunity within the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its government at the centre than the face-off between the national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, over the long delayed inauguration of the board of the Nigeria Social Insurance of Trust Fund (NSITF).  President Muhammadu Buhari had announced the constitution of the NSITF board in September, 2017, with respected labour leader, former General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and redoubtable pro-democratic activist, Comrade Frank Kokori, as chairman. Despite the vehement clamour in diverse quarters including labour unions and the House of Representatives for the inauguration of the board, Dr. Ngige has continued to stall on the issue offering all kinds of untenable excuses for his inaction.

    Signaling that his tenure will not be reminiscent of the lethargic and indifferent leadership offered the party under the chairmanship of Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Oshiomhole on assumption of office fired a memo to Ngige giving him a time frame to constitute the NSITF board. When it became obvious that the minister was bent on persisting in his intransigence, Oshiomhole threatened not only to ensure Ngige’s suspension from the party but to also prevail on the President to drop him from the Federal Executive Council (FEC).  “If the president condones disrespect to his office, I will not condone disrespect to the party’, an exasperated Oshiomhole had declared.

    Was this a mark of disrespect for the president as mischievously insinuated in some quarters?  Certainly not. Placed within its proper context, the party chairman was clearly concerned with not only restoring discipline within the ranks of the APC, but also ensuring that all party members, no matter how highly placed, respect the office of the President. Oshiomhole had earlier lamented that some ministers were taking advantage of Buhari’s patience and ‘fatherly disposition’ to abuse their offices and disregard his directives.

    Ngige retorted that he was not scared of being suspended from the party saying “How (suspension)? In a party that we formed and brought them in? The man is talking out of ignorance”. It is utterly immaterial whether or not Ngige was the sole founder of the APC. He is not superior to the party on which platform his boss, the President was elected and thus enabled to appoint him as a minister. ‘Something cannot stand on nothing’ as the lawyers would say.

    Ngige, in responding to the party chairman’s memo had stated that he was unable to constitute the board of NSITF “because of cases of financial malfeasance, which have put the agency under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”. Specifically, the minister claims that his delay in constituting the board was to enable an Administrative Panel of Inquiry probe the alleged misappropriation of N48 billion at the Fund with N5 billion disappearing in one day without vouchers.

    This is a serious allegation most certainly. But Ngige does not explain in what way the inauguration of the new board would hinder the work of the investigative panel. Should the sins of the previous board, if proven in a court of law, be visited on innocent members of a newly constituted board? If such alleged gargantuan fraud could be perpetrated with a board in place, who knows what atrocities may be taking place right now without the existence of a board and the minister effectively functioning as sole administrator of the agency?

    Indeed, will the battle against the alleged fraud at the NSITF not be enhanced by the functioning of the board headed by a man with the moral integrity and impeccable pedigree of Frank Kokori? In any case, the United Labour Congress (ULC) has debunked claims by the minister’s spokesmen that those indicted in the fraud include nominees of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Nigeria Employment Consultative Association (NECA). In the words of General Secretary of the ULC, “This is contrary to the fact that as we speak, six former directors of NSITF have been charged to court by the EFCC including NECA representative and there is no Labour man in it. Only the minister can tell Nigerians where he got his own conclusions from”.

    The ULC also asserts most tellingly that “We are also not unmindful of the implications of setting up an administrative panel in a matter already investigated by the EFCC which to us is a clear indictment of the EFCC. Was the Minister passing a vote of no confidence?” Responding to Oshiomhole’s argument that arbitrariness in running the affairs of the Fund, including award of contracts, could be perpetrated in the absence of a board, Ngige contended that neither the minister nor the board have the authority to award contracts in the NSITF or any other federal agency.

    According to him, “For the purpose of clarity, the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB) for the award of contracts in any ministry; is made up of the Permanent Secretaries as Chairman and his directors. In the parastatals, the Parastatals Tenders Board consists of Chief Executive Officer (Director-General or Managing Director) and his directors”. Surely, this is pure sophistry. In reality, no contract can be awarded in any MDA without the full knowledge and involvement of the Minister who alone sits at the FEC. Even then, is Ngige insinuating that boards of parastatals have no meaningful functions and thus should be scrapped?

    It is pertinent to note that the Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) had in February called on President Buhari to stop the alleged secret recruitment of additional 350 senior managers into the NSITF by the minister in the absence of a board and despite the financial difficulties confronting the Fund. Surely, these kinds of unhealthy speculations, allegations and insinuations can be curtailed with a board in place that guarantees greater managerial scrutiny, accountability and transparency.

     

    Unremitted stamp duty: Disrespecting PMB

    The issue of the unremitted Stamp Duty amounting to over N20 trillion, which ought to have accrued to the Federation Account since 2012 through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) has been in the public domain for some time now. It has been the subject of intense media focus through news, analyses, commentary and editorials. The House of Representatives as well as the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) have also intervened in the matter urging that the fund be paid into the Federation Account for distribution among the severely cash-strapped   levels of government as required by law. As holder of the intellectual property right on Stamp Duty recovery collection and remittance, the School of Banking Honours (SBH) through its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tola Adekoya, met with former President Goodluck Jonathan on the issue to no avail.

    However, in line with his legendary disdain for corruption, PMB on 12th of October, 2017, intervened decisively in the matter and directed the then Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr. (Mrs.) Habiba M. Lawal to communicate the following decisions to the SBH “(i) That you are jointly mandated to recover over N20 Trillion from Nigerian Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to the Federation Account in line with your patent right, now in force. (ii). That your consultancy fee is 7.5% of the total amount recovered as against 20% earlier agreed in the Master Services Agreement with the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST). (iii).That the Federal Government of Nigeria will provide you and your partner (International Investment Law & Arbitration LLC) with adequate security during the assignment. (iv). That your services, along with your partner, are now being retained as standing Consultants to vanguard stamp duty collections to the Federation Account on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria”.

    To underscore his seriousness, PMB issued necessary directives on the matter to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele through a letter (Reference; SGF. 45/XII/71) signed by Dr. (Mrs.) Lawal stating among others “I write to inform you that Mr. President has approved the appointments of Messrs. School of Banking Honours and International Investment Law & Arbitration LLC, as Consultants to recover the sum of N20.0 trillion Stamp Duty unremitted by Banks and other Financial Institutions into Government Coffers, through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc. (NIBSS). (2). The consultants will introduce a sustainable template to meet the CBN directive of 3rd December, 2012, for Messrs. School of Banking Honours to sweep Stamp Duty accruing from banks and other financial institutions into Government coffers, as patented under the law. (3). The Consultants are to report directly to Mr. President, through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Consequently, you are hereby required to direct the Management of NIBSS, Banks and other Financial Institutions to cooperate with the Consultants to access all records relevant to the success of the assignment”.

    Despite these explicit directives conveyed to the NIBSS by the CBN, the former has blatantly refused to comply. And in seeming reward for this insubordination and impunity, President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated the Managing Director of NIBSS, Mr. Folashadun Adebisi Shonubi, for the position of CBN Deputy Governor; a nomination awaiting the confirmation of the Senate. Surely, there is something seriously amiss. This column urges the National Assembly to diligently investigate this issue before confirming the nomination.