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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), has explained that it did not at any time reject 40 % deduction of Employers’ contributions by Finance Ministry as erroneously reported in a section of the press.
The spokeperson of NSITF, Nwachukwu Godson, in a statement on Wednesday, said the Fund had no such powers, adding that its management was fully aware of the circular on Presidential Directive on 50% Automatic Deduction from Internally Generated Revenue of Federal Government Owned Enterprises.
According to Godson, “What the Managing Director of the NSITF, Maureen Allagoa stated in her New Year message is a reiteration of an appeal earlier made to the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong on 3rd October 2023 for a review of the inclusion of the NSITF in the Fiscal Responsibility and Finance Act of 2020 in view of its special status as a non-treasury funded agency, holding contributors money in trust.
The Spokeperson further quoted parts of the Managing Director’s statement, which said: “The NSITF stands at the threshold of social and economic change, and poised to overcome its challenges as the custodian of social security.
“Amidst our accomplishments, we are grappling with challenges impeding the fulfillment of our mandate, one of which is the deduction in 2022, of 40% amounting to N1.4bn from employer contributions by the Ministry of Finance as an operating surplus in line with the Fiscal Responsibility and Finance Act of 2020, despite the fact that the NSITF is not a revenue-generating agency.
“The NSITF is a tripartite agency holding funds-contributions in trust for the benefits of employees under the ECS and without an operating surplus. The NSITF is also not treasury-funded and does not draw from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation and therefore seeks for a review and removal from the schedule of the Fiscal responsibility Act.”
