Group hails replacement of Kokori as chairman NSITF board

James Ojo, Abuja

The Federal Government has been applauded for replacing Comrade Frank Kokori with a Chartered Accountant, Insurance and Taxation expert, Mr. Austin Enajemo-Isire as the chairman of the board of the Nigeria Social  Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

Citizens Watch Advocacy Movement, in a statement yesterday by its National President, Mohammed Ibn Yunusa and secretary, Mark Ekine respectively described the replacement as a vote for merit at a time competence is in shackles of national neglect.  

The group descended heavily on  the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Waba for faulting the stand of the  Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige on the  matter.

“It is high time  selfish interests gave way to the interest of the nation. NSITF is a specialized agency which must be managed in line with the agenda of the Buhari administration. 

“ The current administration from our investigation, inherited an NSITF with bastardized procurement process. The NSITF in which N62 billion was eaten by locusts. An agency in which N5 billion disappeared in a single a day without vouchers. 

“An agency that could not pay the salaries and allowances of its staff , an agency some of whose  regional and branch offices such as the ones  in Rivers , Imo and Jigawa were shut down for non-remittance of taxes.