Union Tasks NAICOM On Excesses Of Insurance Operators

The Tide

The president of unions in insurance and financial institutions has told the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to roll out stringent conditions to check the excesses of erring operators in the insurance industry.
President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (ASSBIFIE) Mr Sunday Salako,  made the call in Lagos, recently.
He was speaking in an interview with The Tide source on the issue of foreign trips by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in the insurance industry.
It will be recalled that NAICOM last month threatened to bar insurance CEOs from making foreign trips if they failed to submit their 2013 financial statements.
The 2013 financial statements of insurance companies revealed that only 36 firms out of 59 submitted their accounts at the end of the June 2014 deadline.
According to Salako, NAICOM’s decision to ban CEOs of insurance firms from travelling abroad may not deter offenders.
He said that some of the CEOs could decide not to travel abroad and at the same time fail to submit the financial statements of their companies.
Salako did not suggest punishments that could be meted to offenders but argued that NAICOM would be in a better position to know what punishment would be adequate.
On the takeover of banks, he said that workers in Enterprise Bank bought by Heritage Bank and those in Maintreet Bank bought by Skye Bank were still retained.
“The workers are still working, in spite of the merger.
“No worker can be sacked without proper negotiation and agreement. They are still being retained.’’
The labour leader said that if workers would be laid off, the union must be consulted and that the people would be given their rightful entitlement.