NAICOM tells insurers bigger capital alone won't keep them safe

Nigeria's insurance regulator has told company directors that meeting the new capital rules is not the end of the job. The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) said firms can raise all the money required and still run into trouble if the boards managing that money are weak.

The Commissioner for Insurance and NAICOM chief executive, Olusegun Omosehin, made the point in Lagos on Thursday at the eighth Annual Insurance Directors' Conference. The event was organised by the College of Insurance and Financial Management with NAICOM, under the theme "Recapitalisation to Resilience: Leading the Risk-Based Capital Era".

Omosehin said extra capital is only a starting point. What keeps a company standing, he said, is how well that capital is watched over, protected and put to work.

"Recapitalisation was never the destination; it is the gateway to a more demanding phase," he said.

He listed the things that can quietly drain a well-funded insurer: bad underwriting calls, heavy running costs, poor investment choices and expansion that runs ahead of control. Weak internal checks and poor risk management, he warned, can sink a company that looks strong on paper.

Why the rules are changing

NAICOM is moving insurers onto a risk-based capital framework. Under it, a company may clear the minimum capital required to hold its licence and still not have enough set aside for the risks it actually carries. The regulator said it will now look harder at the quality of capital, how boards are run, how risks are managed, how honestly firms report their figures, and whether they can pay claims when they fall due.

The Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria president, Akinjide Orimilade, said directors and top managers will carry more responsibility under the new rules. He said board seats should not be treated as honorary positions, and that directors can be held to account when poor oversight puts a company at serious risk. He pointed to the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, signed on 31 July 2025, as the legal base for the shift.

Orimilade said about 50 operators have met the new recapitalisation thresholds, with statutory capital of roughly ₦715bn reported by NAICOM.

Tope Fasua, the President's Special Adviser on Economic Affairs, said the industry must now work on public trust, reach more people and run more efficiently. The Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, represented by Special Adviser on Public Finance Greg Ezeilo, said a strong insurance sector matters for the wider economy because it gathers long-term money, shields businesses and households, and can fund infrastructure, farming, manufacturing and trade. He called for products that ordinary households, small businesses, farmers and poorer communities can afford.

What happens next

Insurers should expect closer supervision of their books, their boards and their investments, not just their capital. For policyholders, the test will be whether companies can pay claims without delay.