The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has ruled out the reappointment of the sacked directors of African Alliance Insurance Company to the board of the firm or to any other board within the insurance industry.
This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, during a question-and-answer session at the annual seminar for insurance journalists held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
NAICOM had in October 2024 dissolved the board and management of African Alliance Insurance and replaced them with an interim board mandated to oversee the company’s affairs and protect the interests of policyholders, especially annuitants.
Speaking on the matter nearly one year into the interim administration, Omosehin said: “The entity used to be solvent, and some people ran it down. Let me tell you, when we are handing over that entity, every individual who had been on the board and was responsible for the insolvency will never be appointed on that board. Nobody who had been on that board and was responsible for the insolvency will be on that board or have had the opportunity of being on any other board, for that matter. Those are clear guidelines, but of course, the owners of the business will remain the owners of the business.”
Omosehin explained that NAICOM is currently handling the company’s portfolio and working to dispose of some assets in order to settle outstanding liabilities.
“We’ve taken over their portfolio right now; we are completing the process of disposal of some of their assets because you have money locked up in assets. Those assets need to be disposed of. The money realised will then be used to match those portfolios. Once that is done, the critical ones will transfer to another entity. They can no longer manage an annuity portfolio. So, we transfer that portfolio to another entity that has the capacity to manage that portfolio. Whatever we derive, we will settle the outstanding claims, and we will hand the company back to the owners. But again, that means they have to meet our requirements. There are minimum capital requirements that have been set, and it’s simple. If they can’t meet it, then we cancel the licence. So, these are basic processes.”
The NAICOM boss stressed that the regulator would no longer allow the Nigerian public to bear the consequences of mismanagement by a few individuals.Nigerian art sales
“The Nigerian people will no longer be exposed to the whims and, you know, the individual greed of entrepreneurs where policyholders’ money is taken to fill their pockets, they run away, and the company is allowed to die, but who suffers is the public. That money is not theirs because the actual capital they injected into those entities is little; the bulk of the money you see is policyholders’ money. The government will not close its eyes and allow that to continue.”