By James Isaac, Abuja
The Senate has taken a significant step toward providing stronger social security and improved welfare for Nigerian workers as the Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity on Monday, December 1, 2025, held a one-day public hearing on the Nigeria Social Security Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill, 2025.
In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Diket Plank (APC, Plateau Central), said the engagement was crucial to shaping a more inclusive, forward-looking legal framework. He assured participants that their concerns and recommendations would be reflected in the final draft of the legislation, describing the public hearing as a necessary step in enhancing Nigeria’s worker-compensation and social-welfare systems.
Sponsor of the bill, Senator Cyril Oluwole Fasuyi (APC, Ekiti North), explained that the proposed law seeks to repeal the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund Act of 1993 and the Employees’ Compensation Act of 2010, consolidating both into a single, streamlined legal instrument. According to him, the bill aims to strengthen existing institutions rather than create new ones, while ensuring that labour protection systems evolve in line with the demands of a modern economy.
Senator Fasuyi said the legislation would expand coverage to the informal sector, enhance compliance enforcement, and improve occupational safety standards. It also seeks to introduce more transparent reporting processes, modernise claims processing through digital tools, broaden funding mechanisms and strengthen governance structures across the system. All these measures, he noted, are designed to make social protection more efficient, fair and inclusive.
However, some stakeholders expressed concerns that the bill may not fully address wider social security needs of vulnerable groups, including the unemployed, elderly citizens and persons living with disabilities. Other participants questioned the proposal to eliminate the Trustees Investment Act without providing a clear substitute to regulate investment decisions of the Fund.
Speaking with journalists, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Oluwaseun Mayomi Faleye, endorsed the bill, describing it as the product of extensive engagements between the NSITF and the National Assembly. He said the reforms would improve enforcement capacity, strengthen transparency, modernise claims administration and extend protection to millions of workers in the informal sector. Faley also defended the plan to replace the independent investment committee with a board-supervised structure to reduce bureaucracy and speed up decision-making.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, commended the Senate for its inclusive and open-minded legislative process. He said the National Assembly had a constitutional duty to enact effective laws for the benefit of all Nigerians, including workers served by agencies that do not rely on government funding.
“What we are witnessing is democracy in action,” the Minister said. “Every voice is being heard, and the end result will be a more efficient, effective and people-centred institution.”
The public hearing drew contributions from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), civil society groups and other stakeholders within the labour and social-protection ecosystem.
