The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund says more than 7.8 million workers had been enrolled under the Employees’ Compensation Scheme as of July 2026.
Managing Director Oluwaseun Faleye disclosed the figure at the 2026 National Pre-Retirement Summit in Abuja.
He said the Fund was moving beyond isolated registration exercises towards sustained participation and compliance through partnerships with federal institutions, state governments, employers, regulators and organizations in the informal economy.
Faleye said the onboarding of Treasury-funded federal ministries, departments and agencies was a major milestone and that claims payments had already begun for beneficiaries under the integration.
He stressed that registration alone was not enough and that effective protection required contributions, accurate records, efficient claims processing and timely benefit payment.
According to him, social protection must remain visible at moments of vulnerability, particularly when workers suffer occupational injury, disability or death.
Faleye said retirement security should be viewed as a process that begins during working life rather than at the point of exit from service.
He described the Employees’ Compensation Scheme as part of a wider protection system covering workplace injury, occupational disease, disability, death, rehabilitation and return-to-work support.
The NSITF chief said employers, workers and the state had shared responsibilities and warned that individuals could not compensate for institutional non-compliance by employers or failures in the claims system.
He said average claims turnaround time had improved from 14 days to 10 days.
The next priorities, according to Faleye, were deeper coverage, stronger compliance and better coordination among social-protection institutions.
