Arewa Group Seeks Investigation As NSITF Denies Fraud Allegations Against MD

The Arewa Revival Project (ARP) has called for presidential intervention and an investigation of the Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Oluwaseun Faleye.

The group called for an independent and comprehensive probe to protect contributors’ funds and restore public confidence.

This is coming just as NSITF has rejected what it described as false and malicious  series of allegations circulating in the media against its managing director, Oluwaseun Faleye.

NSITF management, in a statement, described the claims of financial impropriety, abuse of office and diversion of workers’ funds as a coordinated attempt to discredit the fund’s leadership and derail reforms currently underway.

The agency insisted that it operates strictly within the statutory and financial framework established under the Employees’ Compensation Act (ECA) 2010, alongside public finance, procurement and audit regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The fund said all monies accruing to the Employees’ Compensation Fund are public trust funds subject to multiple layers of internal controls, routine audits, Management Board oversight and supervision by relevant government authorities. It maintained that at no point had the MD or any single officer operated or accessed NSITF funds outside the institution’s approved banking structure.

The statement reads in part, “The NSITF categorically states that these allegations are false, malicious, and unsupported by verifiable facts, and appear to form part of a coordinated attempt to discredit the leadership of the Fund and undermine the far-reaching reforms currently underway.

At no time has the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer operated, controlled, or had access to NSITF funds outside the approved institutional banking structure of the Fund, and any suggestion that Fund resources were diverted into personal or non-Fund accounts is categorically false.

The NSITF welcomes any lawful, independent, and properly constituted inquiry by relevant oversight authorities and will continue to cooperate fully with all statutory review processes to reassure Nigerian workers that the Fund is safe and secure”.

Addressing allegations of multiple bank accounts linked to a single Bank Verification Number (BVN), the NSITF said account administration and BVN linkages are regulated by deposit money banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria, not by individual discretion.

The denial follows media reports alleging large-scale financial misconduct within the NSITF, including claims that billions of naira in workers’ contributions were spent without proper approval, and that significant inflows of naira and foreign currency were traced to accounts allegedly linked to the managing director.

Amid the controversy, the Arewa Revival Project (ARP) called for presidential intervention, urging an independent and comprehensive probe to protect contributors’ funds and restore public confidence.

Speaking on the matter, ARP project coordinator Muttaka Ahmed Ibrahim said transparency and accountability are essential to the management of social insurance resources and appealed to civil society, labour unions, and other stakeholders to demand full compliance with the law.

Ibrahim said,”Nigerian workers and contributors to the NSITF deserve protection, not exploitation, and any public official who presides over practices that undermine transparency must be held accountable without fear or favour.

We are calling on Mr President to order an immediate and comprehensive investigation to safeguard contributors’ funds and restore public confidence in Nigeria’s social insurance system.

The Arewa Revival Project remains committed to transparency, good governance and accountability, and we urge civil society organisations, labour unions and other stakeholders to join in demanding that public institutions operate strictly in line with the law.”