2.5m workers at risk as governors shun group life policy

About 2.5 million civil servants in the country may miss out of the benefits of Group Life Insurance cover, following the inability of 35 states to sign on to the policy, against the mandate of Pension Reforms Act (PRA) 2014.Group life cover is a joint regulation of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and Pension Commission (PenCom), on Section 9 (3) of PRA 2014, requiring every employer, to which the Act applies, to maintain Life Insurance Policy in favour of the employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee. The policy provides cover to the insured against death.
 
The Guardian, reliably gathered that as of March 31, 2019, only Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have life insurance cover for their workers. Investigations also show that while Lagos, Niger, Osun and Rivers states insured their workers last year, they are yet to renew the policy in the current year, now in its fifth month, thereby putting them among defaulting states and putting their workers at risks.
 
Market observers, who spoke to The Guardian, said that the non-adherence by these state governments exposed the families of over 2.5 million workers to danger in the event anything happens to these “breadwinners.”At the moment, the families of civil servants who have died in the current year across the 35 states are left to their own fate, as they are not entitled to death benefits meant to sustain the bereaved.