NAICOM optimistic of presidential accent to 2020 consolidated insurance bill

By Onome Amuge.

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has expressed optimism that President Bola Tinubu would accede to the re-introduced 2020 consolidated insurance bill which is currently awaiting passage by the 10th National Assembly.

Sunday Thomas, chief executive officer NAICOM, stated this at the 2023 retreat for journalists covering the insurance industry in Uyo, Akwa Ibom,tagged “Improving Stakeholders Perception; 2023 and Beyond”.

Thomas explained that the  industry had a very high hope that the last administration was going to conclude on the consolidated insurance bill , but that didn’t happen as it was not assented to by former president,Muhammadu Buhari before he left being that it was presented to him late.

On the current state of the bill, he said, “Of course there are procedures and processes for such. Though, we are not going to start again from the beginning, but the National Assembly is now looking at it. The bill has now gone through the first reading and we are following up to see that it is concluded as soon as possible.”

The NAICOM CEO said the insurance regulatory authority has not given up on the bill, knowing that it  is a game changer to the sector and will give legal backing to the solid foundation already laid by NAICOM.

Thomas added that operators in the insurance sector are not just sitting and waiting for the assent of the bill, but preparing to hit the ground running once it is signed into an act.

According to brokers in the nation’s insurance industry, the consolidated insurance bill was re-introduced to the 10th National Assembly for  urgent passage  into law to address some of the industry challenges.

They noted that the process for reviewing the Insurance Act 2003 has been ongoing for 12 years. Though it was passed by the ninth National Assembly but was never assented to by former President Muhammadu Buhari before he left office.

President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the bill is expected to  have a great impact in the operation and development of the insurance industry in Nigeria as the prevailing law is perceived to have a lot of weaknesses and can no longer drive the industry in the present century.

Eddie Efekoha, former chairman of the Nigerian insurers Association (NIA),noted that weakness of the existing law was part of the industry’s problem and has been encouraging some of the vices happening in the industry.

One of these vices, according to Efekoha, is the low amount of fine to be paid by offenders of some of the laws such as third party insurance or compulsory builders insurance, adding that it does not encourage compliance.

One of the recommendations by the insurance industry operators in the bill is the reintroduction of the Risk Based Supervision capital model, which they described as the right capital model for the insurance industry in order to align the industry with international best practices and reposition it for accelerated growth and development.

Risk based capital is a method of measuring the minimum amount of capital appropriate for a reporting entity to support its overall business operations in consideration of its size and risk profile.

Another recommendation of insurers in the bill is a N5 million fine for fake insurance certificate perpetrators.