Former Commissioner for Insurance and ex-CEO of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Alhaji Mohamed Kari, has advised the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, to reject calls for regulatory concessions for NICON Insurance and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation amid the just-concluded insurance industry recapitalisation exercise.
Kari, who also served as former MD/CEO of both NICON and Nigeria Re, argued that the two institutions are no longer the market giants they once were and that their failure or strict regulatory discipline poses “absolutely zero systemic risk” to the Nigerian financial system or the broader economy. He said government intervention to rescue or shield non-systemic, chronic defaulters cannot be justified under sound macroeconomic policy.
The former regulator’s comments follow a July 27, 2026 petition by NICON and Nigeria Re to the Ministry of Finance, in which the companies challenged what they described as unlawful fees and regulatory demands arising from the implementation of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025. Among the disputed measures are a 1 per cent capital injection fee, additional processing and verification charges, and a directive requiring the firms to transfer their entire recapitalisation funds into an escrow account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), rather than the 10 per cent statutory deposit prescribed under Section 16(3) of NIIRA 2025.
In response, the Finance Ministry directed NAICOM to suspend enforcement of the contested fees and full-capital escrow transfer directives against the two companies pending determination of the petition, and to provide a detailed legal justification for the charges.
Kari warned that granting special carve-outs or acting as an informal court of appeal for failing operators distorts the market, creates unfair advantages for non-compliant firms, disincentivises real capacity building and weakens policyholder protection. “Regulatory standards exist primarily to guarantee that when disaster strikes, claims are paid promptly,” he said, adding that shielding insolvent entities directly exposes policyholders to unmitigated risk.
He urged the Federal Government to allow NAICOM, as the state’s empowered regulator, to apply the law equally to every company, whether privately owned, historically state-created or under asset management control. “By upholding regulatory integrity and refusing to shield non-compliant operators, your Ministry will demonstrate that Nigeria is serious about financial discipline, thereby building lasting global confidence in the Nigerian insurance sector,” Kari said in an open letter to the minister.
NAICOM announced on 2 August 2026 that 43 insurance and reinsurance companies had met the new minimum capital requirements under NIIRA 2025, marking the successful completion of the 12-month recapitalisation exercise. NICON and Nigeria Re, however, have dragged the regulator to court over aspects of the process, even as the EFCC has invited the Insurance Commissioner over allegations of unlawful recapitalisation fees.