By Olasunkanmi Akoni

The Lagos State Government has disbursed over N2 billion as insurance premium for civil servants in 2021.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo, disclosed this yesterday, during a media conference as part of activities to mark the state Civil Service Insurance week, held in Alausa, Ikeja.

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Olowo added that the premium covered both life and non-life insurance, with about 73,000 civil servants already captured for life insurance.

According to him, insurance is now compulsory for all civil servants in the state. This, he said, is in line with the present administration’s commitment in ensuring adequate care for its workforce while serving and after retirement.

He stated: “Insurance is one of the ways that we manage risk in Lagos State. It is not an issue of optionality or so. We have life and non-life insurance and that is very compulsory.

“Presently, we have over 73,000 employees on our data base from the ministries and all these employees are covered under the life insurance.

“This year alone, we have paid over N2 billion in insurance premium to cover life and non- life. That’s speaks to the importance of insurance. We also saw the benefits of engaging in insurance during this COVID-19 pandemic and the #EndSARS protest.

“We have enjoyed the real essence and value proposition of insurance, and the best we can do is to further our commitment to ensuring that our insurance activities are more strengthened. This is why we are doing this sensitisation and advocacy.”