The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on Wednesday disclosed that 20 risk underwriting companies had invited the Commission to verify their capital base in line with the on-going industry recapitalisation exercise scheduled to be completed by July 31 this year.
The regulatory directive to all operators in the insurance industry was sequel to the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 on July 31, 2025, NAICOM) to comply with the provisions of the legislation under a Risk-Based Capital (RBC) model within one year of its enactment.
Specifically, the NIIRA 2025 introduced a higher Minimum Capital Requirements (MCR) of N10 billion for life, N15 billion for non-life, N25 billion for composite and N35 billion for reinsurance companies in Nigeria with a deadline of July 2026.
Speaking during an interactive chat with journalists on the level of compliance with the legislation and other industry-related matters in Lagos, , the Commissioner for Insurance/CEO of NAICOM, Mr. Segun Omosehin confirmed that verification of the insurers had already commenced and that the Commission had appointed some leading professional accounting firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young (EY); to ensure transparency in the capital verification exercise.
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He explained: “We receive capital verification notices from companies every month. By the end of March, we shall invite those we’ve not heard from to know where they stand on the recapitalisation exercise. We are committed to the reforms in the insurance sector. July 31, 2026 is sacrosanct for the recapitalisation exercise. We shall keep the insuring public abreast of the recapitalisation process. We promise to lead the sector with clarity, transparency and willingness to succeed.”
Omosehin, who pointed out that the transformation policy in the insurance sector is in tandem with the $1 trillion economy target of the government, said the 2026 agenda of the Commission remained Disciplined Execution of its mandate driven by three major factors, namely Financial Soundness, Policyholders Protection, and Ensuring Fairness in Regulation
The NAICOM boss further hinted that the Commission had created the Policyholders Insurance Protection Fund, which is scheduled for operation in the first quarter of this year, promising that the Fund will protect policyholders in terms of valid claims if any insurance experiences insolvency.
