Forgery: NSITF board gets marching order on staff screening

The newly constituted board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has been directed to screen academic qualifications and National Youth Service (NYSC) certificates of members of the agency.

ROYAL NEWS reports that President Muhammadu Buhari recently appointed Mrs. Maureen Allagoa as the Managing Director/Chief Executive, and Emmanuel Nwosu as board chairman of NSITF with 12 other members, following the dismissal of the previous Managing Director, Dr. Michael Akabogu, due to alleged falsification of NYSC certificate.

The board will run the organization for the next three years.

Speaking at the inauguration in Abuja,Labour and Employment Minister, Chris Ngige, said the agency had been in news for wrong reasons.

He said: “The life of the last board just expired and a new board is being put in place to continue management and administration of the fund. By its enabling statute, membership of NSITF board is mostly institutional and ex-officio in composition.

“This means that relevant institutions along tripartite lines are required to send representatives to the board. The institutions are – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) representing federation of workers, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) representing employers, and the government (Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, and Central Bank of Nigeria).
“In the reconstitution, some old members have been retained and new appointments made. I would point out that capacity capabilities and past performance were used as yardsticks.

“It was discovered based on previous non-performance at work and subsequent investigations due to whistle blowing to Police that former Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Michael Akabogu, forged a certificate of national service which was further confirmed by NYSC headquarters when NYSC replied and reconfirmed same.

“To maintain, protect and promote a viable and thriving organization, I have four major tasks before the board of NSITF:

•“To screen and vet academic and NYSC certificates of members.

•“To ensure full implementation of NSITF Restructuring Report.

•“To ensure conclusion of e-NSITF Phase I and Phase II to enable collection of contributions from the public and private sectors as well as inch into the informal sector of the economy.”

The minister stressed that the public sector, which is within dimension of the formal economy, would need to intensify its drive to ensure that governments move to give universal coverage to all the workers.

Ngige urged the board to ensure accountability, transparency, and others that characterise good governance in the agency.

“I will call on employers of labour to eschew subjectivity and objectively abide by the EC Act 2010 and all benefits to the workplace occupational safety and health.”

“The EC Act 2010 is a national law, which drew from the provisions of the International Labour Organization Convention Number 102, and replaced the old Workmen Compensation Act,” he said.