NICON Insurance and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation have escalated their dispute with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), petitioning the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged financial and procedural irregularities in the ongoing insurance industry recapitalisation exercise.
The two companies, in separate statements issued by their managements, accused the insurance regulator of failing to adequately address issues raised in their petition to the EFCC.
The dispute centres on several financial and regulatory demands connected with the recapitalisation programme, including a one per cent charge on shareholders’ funds, the alleged transfer of funds to the Treasury Single Account (TSA), requirements relating to recapitalisation funding and payments made for a verification exercise.
The companies’ latest position follows a September 10, 2026 rejoinder issued by NAICOM. According to NICON and Nigeria Re, the regulator’s response did not directly address what they described as substantive questions raised in their EFCC petition.
“Rather than answer the specific allegations contained in the petition before the EFCC, NAICOM has remained conspicuously silent on the critical questions of law, accountability, and the handling of shareholders’ funds,” the companies said.
They alleged that NAICOM collected significant sums from insurance companies in connection with consultants it was expected to engage for verification exercises under the recapitalisation process.
A specific allegation concerns N180 million said to have been collected from NICON Insurance Limited and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation. The companies claimed the money was collected for a verification exercise, but that consultants were not deployed as expected.
“For instance, NAICOM demanded and received a total sum of N180 million from NICON Insurance Limited and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, without sending any consultants for the verification exercise but instead sent their staff members,” they alleged.
The companies also questioned the treatment of the one per cent financial demand, alleging that money collected by NAICOM was paid into the commission’s account rather than remitted to the TSA.
Another issue raised by the companies concerns the regulator’s authority in relation to the disputed payments. NICON and Nigeria Re argued that NAICOM should not simultaneously function as the regulator, recipient of disputed funds and the final authority determining the legality of its own demands.
“NAICOM cannot simultaneously be the regulator, the collector of disputed funds and the final judge of the legality of its own demands,” they stated.
Companies say they have met recapitalisation requirements
Despite the dispute, NICON and Nigeria Re maintained that they had fulfilled the recapitalisation requirements stipulated under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
“For the avoidance of doubt, NICON Insurance Limited and Nigerian Reinsurance Corporation are fully recapitalised in accordance with NIIRA 2025,” the companies said.
They said they would continue to pursue what they described as the interests of their companies, shareholders and policyholders through legal and constitutional channels.
The companies also rejected any suggestion that NAICOM’s position as the industry regulator placed its decisions beyond legal scrutiny.
“NAICOM is a regulator, not the law. It is itself subject to the law,” they said.
The allegations form part of an increasingly contentious phase of Nigeria’s insurance recapitalisation programme, with questions over regulatory procedures, financial demands and compliance now at the centre of the dispute between the two insurance institutions and the industry regulator.
The EFCC’s response to the petition, as well as any further clarification from NAICOM on the specific financial and procedural allegations raised by NICON and Nigeria Re, will be significant to the next stage of the dispute.
