Insurance recapitalisation: Oyedele queries NAICOM over fees, escrow funds

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Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele

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By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

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ABUJA — The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has queried the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, over the imposition of a one per cent Capital Injection Fee and other charges on insurance companies undergoing recapitalisation.

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The query followed petitions by NICON Insurance Limited and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, which challenged the fees and NAICOM’s directive requiring insurers to transfer their entire capital injection funds into an escrow account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

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In a memo referenced F/LEG/0608/2026/22, dated August 6 and signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mr Raymond Omachi, on behalf of the minister, NAICOM was directed to provide a detailed response and legal justification for the disputed requirements.

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The ministry also directed the commission to suspend enforcement of the contested processing fees, one per cent Capital Injection Fee and full capital escrow transfer directive against NICON and Nigeria Re pending the determination of their petitions.

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The companies had challenged what they described as additional financial obligations imposed by NAICOM beyond statutory requirements.

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They specifically questioned the one per cent Capital Injection Fee, as well as processing and verification fees contained in NAICOM’s Minimum Capital Requirement Guidelines, amounting to N305 million for NICON and N375 million for Nigeria Re.

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The two firms also opposed NAICOM’s directive requiring existing and operational insurance companies to transfer their entire capital injection funds into an escrow account at the CBN, arguing that Section 16(3) of the Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act, NIIRA, 2025, prescribes a 10 per cent statutory deposit.

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NICON and Nigeria Re said they had met the July 31, 2026 recapitalisation deadline by injecting N20 billion and N30 billion respectively into Mudaba Term Deposit Accounts with Lotus Bank Ltd.

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According to them, the amounts exceeded their adjusted recapitalisation requirements of N16 billion and N28 billion respectively.

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The companies further said they had deposited N2.5 billion each with the CBN pursuant to Section 16(3) of NIIRA 2025 and had made initial fee payments of N80 million and N75 million respectively.

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However, NAICOM, in its response yesterday, maintained that the disputed requirements were not new.

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“All these are requirements released since last year in the Guidelines which all the recapitalised 43 companies and the eight awaiting verification have complied with,” the commission said.

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The development comes amid the ongoing implementation of the federal government’s recapitalisation exercise for the insurance industry, aimed at strengthening the financial capacity and resilience of insurance companies.

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