By Victor AhiumaYoung

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, has informed that its ongoing digitalisation process will ensure employers get compliance certificate in 48 hours.

Managing Director of the fund, Maureen Allagoa, who gave this hint, adjudged the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, as the Fund’s most reliable social partner in the administration of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, ECS.

A statement by NSITF’s General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Nwachukwu Godson, said the Managing Director spoke during a working visit by NECA’s management led by its Director-General, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, to NSITF’s Headquarters in Abuja.

According to her, the Organised Private Sector, OPS, which NECA represents, is responsible for over 80 per cent of the ECS contributions collected in 2023, saying that the figure is expected to rise in  2024.

She said the NSITF appreciates the support and partnership of NECA and considers the organised private sector invaluable for the continued administration of the ECS.  

Noting that the Fund will continue to partner and consult NECA in all major decisions that affect the two, Allagoa stated that it was on the advice of NECA that it introduced a modified one- off registration fee of N20,00 for new registering employers and a recurring certificate processing fee of N30,000 for employers requesting for compliance certificate.

The MD informed also that “in line with NECA’s advice and to also justify the value for money, we have decentralised our compliance certificate processing by divesting over 90 per cent of the process to the branches and regions, while the head office only produces the certificate for onward delivery to the employers.” 

She explained that this was to drastically shorten the turnaround time for the issuance of certificates, stressing that the ongoing digitization of the Fund via the E-NSITF will reduce the exercise to 48 hours.

Allagoa further urged NECA to assist in the enforcement of the  1 per cent deduction from the total remuneration as stipulated by the ECS instead of 1 per cent of Basic, Housing and Transport, BHT, as still practised by some private employers, despite an updated communication on the issue by the NECA secretariat.

 Speaking, Mr Oyerinde, among others, threw the support of NECA behind NSITF’s effort at bringing to book, defaulting employers as well as others who falsify records to under-declare contributions or obstruct access to the employers’ registers, as raised in the address of the Managing Director of the Fund.

He insisted that every “enterprise must be responsible.” 

He, however, advised that evidence of such default must first be strongly established. 

The Director-General praised the NSITF for winning the NECA 2023 Award in Best Service Delivery category, stating that NSITF coming tops was well deserved . 

He added: “It was a poll by employers themselves, uninfluenced and not subject to influence as everyone can see. NECA Award is not the type you pay money to be nominated. We firmly shut our doors to that, and our award remains the most unbiased in the country.”