The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is in the eye of the storm.
The reason for this is not far-fetched: the workers’ union is at daggers drawn with the management and board over the alleged misappropriation of the N12billion Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) to the organisation between 2011 and 2014, being subvention from the federal government coffers, among other infractions.
Ripples gathered that the relationship between the workers’ union and the management has not been cordial overtime as staff have always considered being unjustly treated by the latter.
Things came to a head last week, when some members of the in-house union picketed the NSITF headquarters in Abuja to press home their demand for backlog of entitlements being owed the staff.
The Deputy General Secretary, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Chief Joseph Okunade, who led the protest march, said it was carried out to fight the injustice and maltreatment meted on NUP members.
The aggrieved staff who sang martial songs, carried placards bearing different inscriptions like: “Pension Matters: Board approved N350 million, Trust Fund received N200 million, Balance N150 million. Dr. Ngozi Olejeme, where did you keep NSITF Pensioners’ N150 million? Alh. Munir, Do you know?”, “Mr. President, is Dr. Ngozi Olejeme above the law?” Dr. Ngozi Olejeme and NSITF Management, pay your in-house pensioners their entitlements.”
Speaking with a cross-section of those who carried out the protest march in Abuja, they confided in Ripples that the Olejeme-led management board may have misappropriated funds meant for staff welfare to pursue her political ambition.
The sources, who would not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue said they were convinced that Olejeme has a case to answer for the missing funds.
Olejeme vied for the governorship of Delta State under the Peoples Democratic Party but lost out in the party primaries.
A document exclusively obtained by Ripples sheds more light on the genesis of the NSITF saga.
The petition dated April 24th 2015, signed by bonafide staff members of the NSITF under the aegis of the League of Concerned NSIFT Staff Nationwide, Abuja, titled: ‘Allegations of Fraud, Mismanagement and Poor Staff Welfare against NSITF Management’ gave a bird’s eye view of what it described as the “the dangerous reign of impunity in the system.”
The 25-paragraph petition reads in part, “the group regretted that few years after the enactment of the Employees Compensation Act otherwise known as ECA, 2010, which repealed the Workmen Compensation Act, that saddles the NSITF management board with administering the scheme in such a way that an average injured employee with injury in the course of work or even at work will enjoy rehabilitation or compensation as the case may be, the scheme is yet to meet the yearnings of the employees because of serious “Nigeria factor.
“Immediately the Act was signed and ready for implementation, the first move by the board was to engage a consultant for recruitment. The consultant charged hapless prospective employees N1, 000 each. It was quite strange to see a social security organisation like the NSITF displaying such crude mercantilist tendency. Till date the millions of naira collected from the unfortunate jobless Nigerians in the name of providing jobs for them remain guesswork.
“What even makes the whole thing more grating to the ear is the alleged agreement by the NLC president, a member of the board of directors, to the job scam.”
Besides, the group observed that with this loss of proper conception at the inception of the scheme, the agency completely lost touch with what it is projecting to people and has since been mired in one mess or the other.
“The Federal Ministry of Labour that should provide the necessary supervision by ensuring that the activities of the agency pass the litmus test of public service rules abdicated its role for alleged fear of losing face with the presidency.”
The group further recalled that the recruitment that the consultant did was littered with anomalies so much that the in-house union was alleged to have cried blue murder. The in-house union was alleged to have complained to management that contrary to the practice in NSITF and Public Service Rule; officers above the age of 50 years were given fresh and permanent rather than contract appointment.
“Quite a number of former retired or retrenched staff of NSITF receiving monthly pension were given fresh appointment and fresh confirmation of their appointments. As an in-house union we complained that the post-qualification experience for the advertised vacant positions in national dailies in April 2011 was at variance with scheme of service of NSITF and Public Service generally as there was no explicit requirement for cognate experience. But after the 2011 recruitment exercise, subsequent recruitments were allegedly carried out without interview as letters were just being issued either in churches, mosques and various cultural organisations.”
“From 2011 till date, recruitments are done without planning. Not even the top executive management made up of the MD/CE and three executive directors know the number of staff currently in the service of NSITF. The board has completely appropriated the functions of management.”
They further alleged that very recently claims from employers in respect of their injured employees above N100, 000 have to be approved by a committee of the board but in the end, what members of the committee would take as sitting allowances would far exceed the figures they would be sitting to vet and approve.
While government appointed the MD and three executive directors to run the scheme, the board allegedly stripped them of their executive management functions and put the same in the hands of a serving police officer with power to fire and hire and transfer to “Siberia” without transfer allowance.
“In Abuja alone, there are four branch offices of NSITF in addition to the head office. The branches are in FCT, Mararaba, Kagini, and Gwagwalada with an average of 200 staff. Some of the staff allegedly sit on plastic chairs procured by themselves.”
The medical histories of the staff are not known, a development, which is clearly at variance with what obtained in time past, when any of the agencies of government recruited, such workers were referred to government hospitals for their medical reports.
“The NSITF board is allegedly the board of Trustfund Pensions Plc- a pension fund administration established by NSITF with other social partners. In the wisdom of the founding fathers the board of Trustfund Pensions Plc was to be chaired by the MD of NSITF, to be supervised by the board of NSITF as appointed by government. But today it is no longer the case. With the alleged connivance of PenCom, the NSITF board is also the board of Trustfund Pensions and of course every Nigerian knows that over N50billion worth of pension assets is in the custody of Trustfund”.
Worried by the unplanned massive recruitment of staff still going on, the group raised some posers: “Is there any need for such collecting agents? The monthly wage bill of NSITF is allegedly close to N1billion. How does the agency meet the cost of industrial hazards? Yes, the Jonathan administration has signed ECA, 2010, but are the right people managing it? Let an independent auditor look into the books of NSITF, and we shall see how much that place stinks!”
As a last resort, the group has hinted of plans to ask the incoming government under General Muhammaduu Buhari to focus searchlight on the activities of the presently constituted management of the NSITF with a view to reposition the organisation.
Meanwhile, the NSITF has set up a committee to look into the grievances of the workers.
NSTIF’s Managing Director, Mr. Munir Abubakar, reportedly had a two-hour meeting with protesting workers in Abuja.
Abubakar attributed the protest to a lack of understanding on the workings of pension administration in the country.
The committee comprises NSITF General Manager, Administration and Human Resources, Olusegun Basorun (Chairman); Deputy General Manager, Henry Ehhasomi; Assistant General Manager, Legal, Mrs. Toyin Arokoyo; Principal Manager, Human Resources, and Mrs. Grace Benson (Secretary).
The ex-workers are represented on the committee by Mbazigwe Akonye, Rukkayyat Alkali, Ayo Olutekumbi and Joseph Okunade.
Abubakar said the meeting with the ex-workers ended with an amicable resolution of the lingering conflict.
He stated that the action of the ex-workers was able to give them insight into the efforts being made by the management of the NSITF to resolve the matter.
He said, “The meeting has disabused the distrust that our retirees have against the management. Ever since this issue started over two years ago, we have been doing our best to ensure we find amicable middle ground that will be acceptable to the retirees.
He continued, “I am extremely pleased that we have finally found amicable solution to the matter. The picketing of our office by the pensioners’ union has also afforded them to see what the management has been doing and the efforts that have gone into resolving the matter.
“Like I always say to all the stakeholders that the NSITF is a big organisation and it is in the best interest of the Nigerian workers to create enabling environment that will allow smooth implementation of the Employees Compensation Scheme.
“I assure the retirees that management is always seeking for ways of bettering their collective interest. The management sees the retirees as our ambassadors and therefore we cannot do anything that will harm their wellbeing.”
– Ali Smart
Ripples…without borders, without fears
Culled: Ripples
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