The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has formally queried the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) over a one per cent Capital Injection Fee and other charges imposed on insurance companies during the ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
The query followed petitions from NICON Insurance Limited and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation. The firms challenged the fees and NAICOM’s order requiring insurers to transfer their entire capital injection funds into an escrow account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a memo referenced F/LEG/0608/2026/22, dated August 6 and signed by Permanent Secretary Raymond Omachi on behalf of the minister, NAICOM was directed to provide a detailed response and legal justification for the disputed requirements. The ministry also ordered the commission to suspend enforcement of the contested processing fees, the one per cent Capital Injection Fee, and the full capital escrow transfer directive against NICON and Nigeria Re pending the determination of their petitions.
The companies argued that the additional financial obligations exceeded statutory requirements. 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, which amounted to N305 million for NICON and N375 million for Nigeria Re.
They also opposed the directive to move entire capital injection funds into a CBN escrow account, noting that Section 16(3) of the Nigeria Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 requires only a 10 per cent statutory deposit.
NICON and Nigeria Re stated that 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. The amounts exceeded their adjusted recapitalisation requirements of N16 billion and N28 billion. They further disclosed that they had each deposited N2.5 billion with the CBN in line with Section 16(3) of NIIRA 2025 and made initial fee payments of N80 million and N75 million respectively.
NAICOM responded that the disputed requirements were not new. “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.
The development forms part of the federal government’s broader recapitalisation programme for the insurance industry, intended to strengthen the financial capacity and resilience of operators.
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