NSITF Settles Over 100 Claims, Set To Review Digitalisation Contract

The Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has said, it has so far settled over 100 claims, in terms of payments made to beneficiaries under the Employees Compen­sation Policy.

Oluwaseun Faleye, Managing Director of the Fund, made the disclosure, during a recent interactive session with the media in Abuja, revealing that the claims payment also included N25 million compensation to National Assembly staff.

Faleye, appointed by the Federal Gov­ernment in July 2024, to oversee the Fund, equally noted that 70% of Nigeria’s economy operates within the informal sector, hence plans to extend NSITF’s coverage to small businesses, artisans, traders, and transport workers in the country.

Beyond this, the MD revealed that the ser­vices of consulting firm, KPMG has been engaged to conduct a review of its stalled N15 billion e-NSITF project.

Recall that in 2023, the federal government approved phase two of the electronic Nige­ria Social Insurance Trust Fund (e-NSITF), which will enable concessionaires to up­grade the infrastructure for N15 billion.

Explaining the rational for the contract, Faleye acknowledged that while digitalisa­tion is critical to the agency’s operations, past attempts, including the e-NSITF project awarded in 2022, faced significant challenges.

To ensure accountability, he said the new NSITF leadership has brought in KPMG to assess the contractor’s performance against the project’s original scope.

He insisted that the Fund is determined to drive digital transformation and improve service delivery for millions of Nigerian workers despite existing setbacks.

“NSITF has made several attempts at dig­italisation in the past, but unfortunately we still have enormous challenges.

“You referred to the E-NSITF project in the past. For my record, that project was awarded sometime in 2022. As we speak, there is noth­ing on ground to suggest that anything wor­thy of good has been delivered. The feedback that we have internally is that that project is severely challenged in terms of delivery.

“But of course, we are looking at it, we are looking at what has been delivered. This is the scope of work. And it is on that basis that we have employed the services of a reputa­ble consultant from KPMG, to be specific, to review what was delivered by the contractor, vis-à-vis what he was contracted to deliver.

“But I mean, digitalization for us is what we’re expecting to be a tool for advancement of what we do. And that tool should be clear to everybody to see.

“For me, looking at NSITF internal pro­cesses and procedures, that seems very much lacking. And it is in that regard that we resolve that we will take the bull by the horn and chart our course by ourselves,” he stated.

He went on to disclose that the Fund is sponsoring a Mass Advocacy and Sensitiza­tion Campaign which is aimed at boosting awareness and compliance with the Employ­ees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS)

“This campaign will leverage media en­gagement, stakeholder partnerships such as this, and grassroots outreach to ensure that every worker, employer and relevant stake­holders understand their rights and obliga­tions under the scheme. We intend to use your skillset to achieve this and we intend to use both the traditional and new media to advo­cate for this benefit and we will be relying on you” he said.