Insurance consortium pays N538.96m to relatives of deceased Lagos workers

A consortium of insurance companies have paid N538.96m claims to 250 relatives of 102 deceased workers who died while in active service under the Lagos State Public service.

The claims was paid under the Group Life Insurance Policy put in place for civil servants by Lagos State Government.

The GLIP emanates from the Pension Reform Act which states that, “Employers shall maintain life insurance policy in favour of the employee for a minimum of three times the annual total emolument of the employee.”

The essence of the cover is to give financial relief to beneficiaries and to cushion the effect of the loss of their breadwinners.

During an event to present cheques to some of the beneficiaries in Lagos, the state head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who was represented by the permanent secretary, Public Service Office, Olasunkanmi Oyegbola, said Lagos places high priority on its workers.

He said, “The purpose for the payment of this insurance death benefits to the beneficiaries is basically to serve as a succour for their immediate families in order to avoid dropping out of schools of the younger children or being thrown out of the place of abode by the landlords due to non-availability of sufficient funds for survival and to ensure a much better future for left behind beneficiaries.”

Rabiu Olowo, commissioner for Finance, said, “The Lagos State Government is in the forefront in the provision of adequate welfare for staff and citizens at large, in fact, no other state is totally committed to the welfare of staff, either dead or alive, as Lagos State is. I commend Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his total commitment to the welfare of its state workforce.”

Rasak Abiodun, managing director of LASACO Assurance Plc, who was represented by the general manager, Dimeji Olona, advised the families of the deceased to use the money judiciously for the benefit of the immediate beneficiaries whom the deceased left behind.

Modestus Anaesoronye

Modestus Anaesoronye is a leading Nigerian financial journalist with over two decades of experience reporting on the insurance and pension sectors across Nigeria and West Africa. He has held key editorial positions at major national media outlets, including The Comet, The Nation, and Financial Standard, and currently serves as a Senior Financial Analyst at BusinessDay Media Ltd. A widely travelled reporter, he has covered industry developments in more than 14 countries across Africa and Asia. Anaesoronye is a multiple award-winning journalist, honoured several times as Insurance Journalist of the Year and Pension Journalist of the Year by recognised industry bodies, including PensionScope and the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), among others.