Reject political pressure to overturn revocation of Nigeria Re-Insurance, NICON licences – Kari to Oyedele

The regulator’s move attracted stiff opposition from Nigeria Re and NICON, which dragged the commission to court.

Consequently, in a letter dated August 6, 2026, and signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Raymond Omachi, the ministry ordered NAICOM to suspend the enforcement of recapitalisation fees against Nigeria Re and NICON.

Reacting, Kari, who was also a Commissioner at NAICOM, told Oyedele and the Ministry of Finance to resist political intervention in the regulatory enforcement actions taken against the two insurance companies.

According to Kari, the Ministry of Finance should allow the insurance regulator to enforce statutory requirements without interference.

Kari argued that allowing the affected companies to seek political intervention to avoid regulatory requirements would undermine fair competition in the Nigerian insurance industry.

He said, “If Nigeria is to refine and strengthen its insurance sector to compete globally, it needs more than just passing a piece of legislation; the market must operate under fair, transparent, and equal rules for every player.”

According to him, NICON and Nigeria Re-Insurance had “once again approached your Ministry seeking political intervention to bypass regulatory requirements,” describing the move as an “uneven playing field” that penalises operators that complied with the law while granting preferential treatment to legacy institutions.

Kari noted that NICON and Nigeria Re-Insurance were established by the Federal Government in 1969 and 1977, respectively, and initially served as pillars of Nigeria’s insurance industry by retaining premium capital domestically, underwriting public assets and developing local expertise.

However, he said the institutions lost their market leadership following their privatisation in the mid-2000s, alleging that they subsequently suffered governance problems, excessive leverage, balance-sheet weaknesses and unpaid claims.

Kari said the Nigerian insurance industry had demonstrated that compliance with the new capital requirements was achievable, noting that more than 90 percent of operators had followed the statutory process of raising fresh capital, depositing required reserves with the Central Bank of Nigeria, undergoing verification and settling regulatory fees.

“In contrast, NICON and Nigeria Re continue to seek special dispensation through political channels, petitioning your Ministry to suspend regulatory directives, capital checks and escrow requirements,” he alleged.

He warned that treating regulatory compliance as mandatory for most operators but optional for a few would undermine statutory regulation and fair competition.

He cited the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Pension Commission, saying operators in those sectors generally comply with recapitalisation and other statutory requirements without seeking political intervention to weaken their regulators.

“Why then should insurance operators treat regulatory compliance as a matter open to political lobbying? Why should the Ministry of Finance be patronised to intervene in pure regulatory enforcement?” he asked.

He cited Sections 8(6) and 8(9) of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, arguing that the law provides the procedure to be followed when an operator’s licence is cancelled.

He said the provisions did not give the Ministry of Finance a role in the process.

“Why should the ministry breach the law of the Federal Republic by entertaining such overture and even overruling the regulator?” he asked.

Kari argued that executive intervention could be justified only where the failure of a financial institution posed a genuine systemic risk to the economy.

However, he maintained that NICON and Nigeria Re-Insurance no longer had the market size or influence to constitute such threat.

“These are no longer the market giants they once were decades ago,” he said, adding that their “current market footprint is virtually insignificant.

“The Federal Government must resist the urge to grant special carve-outs or act as an informal court of appeal for failing operators,” he said.

“NAICOM is the state’s empowered regulator; it must be permitted to apply the law equally to every company, whether privately owned, historically state-created, or under asset management control,” Kari added.