President Muhammadu Buhari has backed the refusal of Labour and Employment Minister, Chris Ngige, to swear in Frank Kokori as the chairman of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) Board.
In a statement on Sunday, presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said Kokori has been redeployed by the president to now head the Board of Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS).
Ngige has been at loggerheads with some NSITF officials including Kokori following his refusal to inaugurate the Board of the agency.
President Buhari subsequently appointed Austin Enajemo-Isire to replace Kokori.
The inauguration of the new Board has, however, been stalled as a result of protests by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) which insisted that Kokori must be sworn in as the NSITF Board chairman.
Adesina said the Minister’s decision not to inaugurate the board as well as other actions toward the “repositioning” of the agency “were part of the special work plan approved for the Minister by President Buhari.”
He lamented that the NSITF was “riddled with corruption between 2012 – 2015” which resulted in a loss of about N48 billion.
Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity further said Enejamo-Isire and other members of the Board appointed by the president will be inaugurated on Monday (today) in Abuja.
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