By Bakare Tunde
The Federal Government has assigned a sum of N17.3 billion in the 2025 appropriation bill to provide Group Life Assurance for employees of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the country.
The bill was presented by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the joint session of the National Assembly shortly before proceeding on Yuletide last year 2024.
Group life assurance is a life insurance policy that provides a death benefit to members of a group, such as employees, club members, or society members.
In the event of a member’s death, the policy pays the beneficiary a lump sum of money.
The allocation also includes provisions for administration and monitoring costs to ensure effective programme implementation.
Group Life Assurance, mandated under Nigeria’s Pension Reform Act of 2014, requires employers in both public and private sectors to provide death benefits equivalent to at least three times an employee’s yearly salary in the event of an untimely death.
This policy extends not only to civil servants but also to critical security agencies like the Department of State Services (DSS) and other public institutions.
The N17.3 billion budget will support the life assurance policies and cover the administrative expenses involved, reflecting the government’s commitment to ensuring transparency and efficient fund management.
This initiative aims to provide a financial safety net for the families of deceased employees.
In comparison, the 2024 budget earmarked N9.6 billion for Group Life Assurance, a notable increase in the 2025 allocation.
The previous year’s allocation was intended to cover federal workers against unforeseen circumstances, ensuring that their families are financially supported in case of death or severe injury.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stressed that this is a routine yearly cover provided by insurance companies for workers.
The Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) also revealed that it has been working with insurance companies and brokers to provide coverage for federal employees, including settling 648 backlogs of death benefits for the families of deceased officers in 2022.
The new allocation further strengthens the government’s focus on the welfare of its workforce, including those serving in the NYSC.
Speaking on the development, a former Managing Director of FSL Insurance Broker Limited, Alfred Daudu, commended the government for allocating such an amount to group life employees in the MDAs and NYSC members across the country.
Daudu also called on the industry regulator, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), to work closely with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to ensure the deployment of micro insurance through mobile technology.
He noted that with the deployment of micro-insurance through digital technology, insurers can contribute maximally to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025, whilst urging insurers to migrate from traditional ways of offering insurance to embracing new methods of insurance.
