From Fred Itua, Abuja

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), at the weekend, said in the last one year, it has settled over 11,000 claimants.

Chairman of the board of the agency , Austin Enajemo-Isire, gave the revelation during a media parley in Abuja.

He said payments of over 11,000 claims by the Fund in 2021 alone is estimated to be over N1 billion. He added that N529.9million was disbursed to such claimants between June and November, 2021.

Explaining how the repositioning move of the agency is going, Enajemo-Isire said the financial account of the Fund which was in arreas of over seven years, has been audited up to date with 2019 and 2020 currently under process and auditing.

He said: “Today, NSITF is currently undergoing a transformation and repositioning to deliver on its core mandate in line with the vision of the fund. Therefore, a new beginning, a renewed hope weaved around a commitment to rebuild NSITF that the Nigerian workers will be proud of.

“It is gratifying to note that since the inauguration of the present executive management, the fund has been on a turnaround and a growth trajectory.

“This is one of the key promises made by the management board to change the narratives during their inauguration with a view to enthroning sound policies, accountability and probity.

“It may interest you to note that this year alone, well over 11,000 claims have been paid to different categories of claimants and more are being processed for payment.

“At the inception of this management board and as contained in the Honourable Minister of Labour’s Speech, the financial account of the fund was in areas of over 7 years but as we speak, this has been audited up to date with 2019 and 2020 currently under process and auditing,” he said.

He added that NSITF continues to maintain presence in 11 regions and 56 branches across the nation to ensure easy accessibility by all employees and employers.

“With these offices across the country, we will reach out to more Nigerians and ensure that every worker, both in the formal and informal sectors, are well protected,” he emphasised.

According to him, the Employee Compensation Act ( ECA), guiding the operations of NSITF, was a fall out of employee compensation scheme , introduced and powered by an Act of Parliament, known as ECA in 2010.

He said: “The primary aims of the act is to provide a fair and guaranteed compensations to any employee of a registered employer who suffers occupational hazard while on active service; either leading to death or disability.

“Since the enactment of the Act, we have seen a leap unto the mountain of progress and a low walk on the valleys of the not so good.”

This is as he urged employers of labour both in the private and public sectors who are yet to key into the scheme to do so, as the board and new management are determined to deliver on their promises.

In his own brief remarks at the interactive session with journalists , the NSITF managing director, Mike Akabodu, said the agency is undergoing transformation and repositioning for better service delivery to workers in the country.

“The ongoing strategic repositioning of NSITF is geared towards opening up a new chapter for it devoid of controversy and bad image in whatever form,” he said.

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