The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund has announced that it spent not less than N1,170,409,977.02 on a total of 23, 615 claims and compensation in the last year.
According to Vanguard, the management of the fund disclosed that this includes medical expenses refund to 603 employers, loss of productivity to 174 employers, death benefits to 10,610 beneficiaries of deceased employees as well as disability benefits, and retirement benefits to 3506 disabled employees among others.
Speaking at the Management Performance Review meeting in Abuja, the Managing Director of the Fund, Dr. Michael Akabogu said the strategic reforms unveiled a year ago, had not only frontloaded transparency and accountability in the operations of the fund but had also broken new grounds in expanding the execution of its mandate.
Akabogu, said “the fund now touches the lives of workers and their dependants like never before”, noting that the essence of the review was to “gauge the activities of Nigeria’s foremost social security institution and track the measured progress reports of regions and branches.”
According to him, targets set at the last Management Review Meeting held from 20th to 21st January 2022 which included setting up of the five syndicate groups to identify key issues affecting the operations of the regional and branch offices had been met.
He said “Other targets which we have also met since the last review are the automation of the fund’s operational process which is in progress and intended as a bulwark of accountability and transparency, review of staff salaries which we have completed and forwarded to the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission as well as securing operational vehicles for all regions and branch offices.
“Instructively, we have narrowed the time frame between complaints and compensation from time-indefinite we met, to 14 days and now 10 days. This will further reduce when we introduce our duty-free call center in the next few months.
“ The NSITF under this administration has been touching the lives of workers and their dependants with a total of 23, 615 claims and compensation, worth N1,170,409,977.02 – One billion, one hundred and seventy million, four hundred and nine thousand, nine hundred and seventy-seven Naira, two kobos paid in the last one year. We have moved very far from what we met on the ground.” The Managing Director explained that “this includes medical expenses refund to 603 employers, loss of productivity to 174 employers, death benefits to 10,610 beneficiaries of deceased employees as well as disability benefits, retirement benefits to 3506 disabled employees among others.” he added.
