The joint Senate and House Committee on Labour, Employment, and Productivity on Tuesday called for the delisting of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) from Schedule 1 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007.
The lawmakers made the advocacy recently during the two-day retreat held in Lagos State, organised by the NSITF for members of the House and Senate Committees on Labour, Employment, and Productivity, in a bid to familiarise the lawmakers with the Fund’s operations.
The lawmakers who acknowledged the need to strengthen the NSITF harped on the need for collaboration, aimed at enhancing the NSITF’s capacity to provide a social safety net for workers across both the public and private sectors.
The lawmakers also urged the NSITF management to intensify efforts to enrol all public sector employees in the Employee Compensation Scheme (ECS), highlighting its social benefits and positive impact on economic productivity.
The stakeholders also recommended that the NSITF engage with relevant agencies to ensure timely collection and remittance of ECS deductions for both Treasury-funded and non-Treasury-funded agencies.
Acknowledging that the NSITF is not a revenue-generating agency, the joint committees emphasised that delisting it from Schedule 1 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act would not only exempt the NSITF from the mandatory 50% revenue deduction by the Federal Ministry of Finance but also allow for the full utilisation of its funds for its intended beneficiaries.
In his address, NSITF General Manager (Corporate Affairs), Mr Nwachukwu Godson, said, “With respect to its service delivery, it was resolved that it is critical for NSITF to undertake a digital transformation of its core functions, departments, and programmes as well as implement an electronic record system to improve service delivery and show transparency.
“In alignment with the management’s plans, the committee urged the fund to embark on extensive advocacy to enable Nigerians to better understand the criticality of the mandate of NSITF and the benefits that could accrue to employees if their employers subscribe to the scheme should there be any injury, sickness, death, or disability arising from work-related activities,” the statement read in part.
In his remarks at the retreat, the Chairman of the House Committee on Labour, Employment, and Productivity, Hon. Adegboyega Adefarati, commended the capabilities of the new NSITF Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, who presented his roadmap, titled “NSITF Strategic Priorities 2024-2027,” to the committee members.
“From the presentations, no one is in doubt that the Managing Director has the capacity, character, and competence to build a stronger NSITF. What is left is to give him every support he needs to succeed,” he remarked.
Alongside his House counterpart, Senator Diket Plang expressed satisfaction with the robust engagement during the retreat and pledged the commitment of both committees to leverage their legislative influence to support the NSITF’s success.
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