Families of deceased NIS officers qualify for NSITF compensation scheme- Allagoa

By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has assured the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) that the dependents of their two staff members who lately lost their lives in the course of work can benefit from the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) having registered with the scheme, and being an agency of government.

The Managing Director of the NSITF, Maureen Allagoa, clarified yesterday in Abuja while responding to a question by the Deputy Comptroller General of Immigration in charge of Finance and Accounts, Dora Amahian, who received her and her team on behalf of the Acting Comptroller General, Wura-Ola Adepoju during a sensitization drive to the headquarters of the Immigration Service.

Amahian had asked if the two staff of the Service who died recently in a ghastly motor accident in the course of the assignment could be covered by the ECS.

Allagoa, who answered in the affirmative, said that the recent circular from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on mandatory ECS contributions is binding on all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, noting that the backlog of payment to be made by the MDAs as contained in the circular dates back to 2012.

According to her, under the Employees’ Compensation Scheme, the family of  any enrolee who dies in the course of work will be  taken care of by the NSITF until the last child attains

the age of 21 or graduated from the university and on the condition that that beneficiary is totally dependent on the deceased.

A statement issued by Nwachukwu Godson, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, quoted the MD as saying, “If an agency of government like the Immigration Service which is registered as a staff with work-related injury or death, the NSITF can pay claims to the worker or the dependents as the case may be, in as much as the accident is properly reported under twenty-one days, documented and contributions commenced.

“Remember that the backlog owed by the MDAs dating to 2012 is meant to be cleared in line with the Federal Government Circular.

“So in the case of the two staff of the Immigration Service who died in the course of work, the NSITF will pay claims to their dependents once the Service takes the steps mentioned above by properly registering the incident and making  the appropriate one per cent contribution.”

In his contribution, the Executive Director of Operations of the NSITF, Modu Gana, explained that the NSITF is a Trust Fund, a no-fault scheme whose fidelity to the payment of compensations and claims in line with ECA 2010 has made markedly different from regular insurance companies.

He further suggested to the Immigration Service to develop a payment to defray the backlog.

While welcoming the NSTIF team, Amahian assured that the Immigration Service would make the appropriate contributions to the ECS to enable its staff members to benefit from the varying range of claims and compensations that the NSITF offers.

“We are with you. We are going to key into all you have said as soon as we can. Your officers have been here earlier and gave our management an in-depth lecture on what Employee Compensation is all about. I’m going to table the matter once again to the Acting Comptroller General.”

Among the NSITF team that accompanied the Managing Director were the Executive Director of operations, Modu Gana, General Manager of Compliance, Kabir Ma’aji, General Manager of Abuja Region, Bridget Ashang, Deputy General Manager, Health Safety and Environment, Bino Okowneze and the Deputy General Manager Claims, Frances Nwachukwu.

Meanwhile, the Sokoto State Government is set to enrol its workforce into the Employee Compensation Scheme.

The State Head of Service, Suleiman Sarkin Fulani Ahmadu gave the assurance while receiving a team from the Sokoto Branch of the NSITF led by its Manager, Ashiru Muhammad Alkali.

Addressing the NSITF delegation, Suleiman thanked them for the visit which he described as timely, and assured that the current Sokoto State Government was committed to the welfare of workers as part of the reforms of the state civil service.

He further said that the state government was ready to partner with the NSITF towards the improvement of the lots of the workers, hence the need to embrace the Employees’ Compensation Act.

Earlier, the Sokoto Branch Manager of the Fund, Ashiru Muhammad Alkali said they were at the office of the newly appointed Sokoto State Head of Civil Service to inform him of the ECS as well as congratulate him on his well-deserved appointment. He expressed confidence that the scheme will make immense contributions to reforming the state civil service.