For
so long, the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has been
foot-dragging on its statutory responsibility of providing social
security protection and safety nets. But recent events surrounding the
sordid cases of corruption within the fund have tended to portraying
NSITF as a
house of sleaze, and by extension, indicting the board
members and management who in the first place ought to protect the fund.
Paul Obi reports
From
1994 to 2014, when the NSITF Act was amended, Nigeria’s quest for a
reliable social security net and compensation pool for employees in the
private sector has been tardy and mostly inept. In short, the fund has
not adequately addressed the core values for employees’ interest with
regards to social security and employees’ compensation. At the core of
this unimpressive performance had been NSITF’s slow-pace in providing
employees’ compensation, where there have been clear-cut cases of injury
or industrial harm.
Though,
the fund has performed well in some areas, to many, not much can be
said of NSITF as a protector of employees. Many had thought that the
composition of the NSITF board after its transformation as enshrined in
the NSITF Act, 2014 would assist in repositioning the body. Given that
the NSITF board is made up of a tripartite committee, comprising
appointees of the federal government, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)
and the National Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the
expectation was that check and balance, including efficient governance
structure would be the bedrock in the running of the NSITF affairs.
Alleged Sleaze
Surprisingly, the expectation has fallen flat in the face of current allegations of rampant corruption in the NSITF.
In
the report submitted to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, a
whopping N62 billion was said to have been stolen from NSITF. It
was observed that “the fund was operating with incomplete books of
account. Several bank statements of the various bank accounts,
cashbooks, etc were not submitted for audit examination and sighting.
Financial statements (accounts) produced from such accounting system
could not be reliable.”
Also,
there were several transfers of funds in between bank accounts without
authorisation and approvals. For instance, the sum of N15,737,757,697.91
was transferred from one account to another. Evidences to show the
approvals and payment vouchers authorising the transfers were likewise
not presented to the panel. The panel observed further that the sum of
N2,990,184,262.77 was expended on computerisation and other related ICT
equipment. Despite this expenditure, not much was achieved on computerisation
of the fund, thereby defeating the purpose of the expenditure. Unlike
in most instances where government is quick to shield cases of
corruption involving government agencies, alleged corruption in NSITF
has presented a unique case. This time, government is leading the charge
to expose the cases of corruption.
In
the forefront of that charge has been the Minister of Labour and
Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, who has been doing everything possible to
uncover the deep corruption that held sway in the last 10 years. Ngige’s
resolve to go the whole hog in fishing out those, who stole from NSITF
is not far-fetched. Many of those involved in the alleged graft in the
fund are members of the organised labour, who formed part of the
tripartite NSITF board.
To
make matter worse, the National Chairman of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, was the board chairman when some of
these cases of alleged corruption were perpetuated.
Oshiomhole’s Ultimatum
But
immediately Oshiomhole took over as APC National Chairman, he had gone
ahead to direct Ngige to inaugurate the NSITF board or face sanction
from the party. A directive that did not go down well with the minister.
According
to Ngige, Oshiomhole intrusion, forcefully demanding that the he
constitute the NSITF board was primarily meant to bury the investigation
and its subsequent outcomes. He explained that, being an interested
party, Oshiomhole intention was to ensure that the new board, if
inaugurated, will do everything to cover up established cases of
corruption labelled against members of his constituency -the organised
labour.
Ngige’s Allegation
After
receiving the letter from Oshiomhole (which many believed the APC
National chairman crossed the line, as such directive to Ngige could
only be issued by President Muhammadu Buhari to a member of his
cabinet), Ngige wasted no time in sending back the missiles to the APC
National Chairman. Responding
to the letter, a miffed Ngige told Oshiomhole that “I am not oblivious
of the fact that you are an interested party in the matter because
having served as the chairman of the NSITF board before the last board
and as a former Nigerian Labour Congress President, you will be
interested in the tripartite colouration of the board being maintained
more so as labour still remains your constituency.”
Another
source in the ministry had told THISDAY that the basic reason for the
demand to set up the board was to cover up the tracks linking the
looting of about N62 billion from NSITF. According
to the source, “some members in the former board that were nominated in
the board were from labour and NECA, some of them are standing trial,
so naturally, he will want the tripartite board to be constituted. The
source added that the push to constitute the NSTIF board and downplay
the investigation clearly indicates a hidden agenda. “Who are they
shielding? Are they saying that the board is more important than
fighting the corruption in NSITF? Why are they not talking about the
corruption? Are they shielding some interest and some of them are from
labour and NECA?,” the source asked.
However, some analysts and observers argued that it was better for Ngige to inaugurate the board so that operations of NSITF would
not continue to be affected by the absence of the board. According to
them, having the board in place would not affect the on-going
investigation into the corruption allegation and more so, the fund could
not afford to exist without a board in perpetuity because it was trying
to avoid a cover-up.
The Politics at Play
The
gall part of it is that, many see Ngige’s action as more political than
an administrative step taken to correct an anomaly in NSITF. Close
watchers of the event argued that the minister’s rationale for not
inaugurating the NSITF was more of a political brinkmanship to get at
Oshiomhole and top members of the organised labour. Although, the APC
National Chairman had wanted to browbeat Ngige into submission, and as
well as display the supremacy of the party, he, however, met a measured
match in Ngige who was adamant to heed to his demands. It was therefore
more of a political ding dong between Ngige on one hand and Oshiomhole
and NLC on the other hand.
NLC’s Silence
More
so, since the beginning of the NSITF’s investigation and hostility
between Ngige and Oshiomhole, the NLC had maintained sealed lips.
Notwithstanding several allegations against its members in the NSITF
scandal, the union has blatantly refused to speak on the matter. Several
attempts by THISDAY to speak with NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, on the
matter were not fruitful. Wabba also did not respond to calls and text
messages put across to him on the matter.
Conversely,
NSITF Managing Director, Adebayo Somefun, at a recent gathering in
Abuja told journalists that even the fund was yet to grasp with the
on-going investigation. Somefun stated that, “There are actions going on
in the court on the matter and anti-graft agencies are also on the
case. None of these actions have been concluded. All we know about the
panel is what all Nigerians have been reading in the news mediums.” According
to Somefun, what is paramount to NSITF management at the moment is how
to restructure the procurement process in the award of contract in the
agency. He said, this will go a long way to stem corruption in the fund.
Beyond
such assurance, the current scandal has raised concerns over the
running of the NSITF, as the crisis already appear to have damaged the
reputation of the organisation. It is even doubtful if the crisis will
fizzle out any time soon. And although, the NSITF crisis has snowballed
into some political in-fighting between Ngige and Oshiomhole, the NLC
and other stakeholders in the organised labour must also come out clean
on what went wrong.
Looking Forward
The
danger of covering up the damning cases of corruption in NSITF is that
many of the stakeholders would in future lack the moral authority to
hold government to account. If the mess is not cleaned up, and quickly
too, the potential of NSITF remaining a perpetual house of sleaze
beckons amid a damaged reputation. That will be a dangerous route to
take. The only option left is to purge NSITF of the already battered
image and project it to the future. Only then, will the fund return to
its glorious days.
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