NSITF, PENCOM, and ITF: The Employer Compliance Every Nigerian SME Misses

You have incorporated with the CAC, sorted your TIN, and maybe registered for VAT. From the outside, you look compliant. But the moment you hire staff, three more obligations quietly switch on — NSITF, PENCOM, and ITF — and they are the ones that most often surface as a nasty surprise when you bid for a contract or face a review. Here is what each one is, who it applies to, and what it actually requires.

NSITF — Employees' Compensation Scheme

The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund administers the Employees' Compensation Scheme, which covers employees for work-related injury, disability, or death. As an employer, you are expected to register and remit a percentage of your monthly payroll into the scheme.

• ✓Register your company with NSITF once you have employees.
• ✓Remit the required percentage of monthly payroll.
• ✓Keep evidence of remittance — it is commonly requested for compliance certificates and bids.

PENCOM — Contributory Pension Scheme

The National Pension Commission regulates the Contributory Pension Scheme. Once you cross the employee threshold, you are required to remit both employer and employee pension contributions into each staff member's Retirement Savings Account.

• ✓Register under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
• ✓Ensure each eligible employee has a Retirement Savings Account (RSA).
• ✓Remit employer and employee contributions monthly.
• ✓Obtain a Pension Compliance Certificate — frequently mandatory for tenders.

ITF — Industrial Training Fund

The Industrial Training Fund requires qualifying employers to contribute a percentage of annual payroll toward workforce development. Whether you qualify typically depends on your staff count or turnover reaching the relevant threshold.

• ✓Register with the ITF once you meet the threshold.
• ✓Make the annual contribution and file by the deadline.
• ✓Obtain your ITF Compliance Certificate for procurement and renewals.

Why SMEs miss them

These obligations do not announce themselves at incorporation. They activate later, when you hire, and there is no single dashboard telling you they now apply. The result is a common and avoidable gap: a growing business that looks compliant but is quietly exposed on three fronts at once. The fix is straightforward — a compliance calendar that maps every obligation to a deadline and an owner.