Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed
this to State House Correspondents at the Federal Executive Council meeting,
which was presided over by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Council
Chambers of the Presidential Villa, on Wednesday in Abuja.
Ngige also revealed that the Council approved the amendment
of outdated labour laws to meet globally accepted standards prescribed by the
International Labour Organisation.
“Now is for a concessionaire to come and do infrastructure
and upgrade it in the neigbourhood of N15bn and then after that, it will take
some percentage on incremental revenue that accrued,” Ngige said.
He said, “This memo is for the electronic NSITF. Nigeria now
operates the old Workmen Compensation Act, now Employee Compensation Act 2010.
“Therefore, we are trying to align the contributions of
NSITF to make it fraud-free. People should be able to easily make workers’
contributions, even from the comfort of their offices, and generate
certificates.”
He added that, “You know that the ECA makes it mandatory for
all employers to insure their workers through a token contribution of a per
cent of their emolument to the social trust fund of the NSITF.
“And that is the fund with which if you have an accident or
disease condition or debt or disability in the course of work, you can make
claim, like an insurance claim.”
He said Wednesday’s approval was meant to refine the process
to avoid revenue losses to the labour-employing organisations.
Speaking on the concessionaire to upgrade the infrastructure
at about N15bn, he said, “So the Council gave the go ahead today and approved
it and directed ICRC who is the body authorised by law to enter into such
concession, to continue the process and liaise with the Office of the
Attorney-General of the Federation.”