Chuks Udo Okonta
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) should be given reasonable level of autonomy to enable it exercise self executing power over those who breach Insurance Law, the Managing Director Riskguard-Africa Nigeria Limited Yemi Soladoye, has canvassed.
He told Inspen that Insurance Laws in developed nations give the commissioner for insurance an overwhelming power above other regulators in the financial services sector.
He noted that giving the regulator reasonable level of autonomy, would help drive developments in the industry and economy fasters.
Soladoye said presently, due to lack of autonomy, NAICOM has to go through rigorous stages before it can withdraw the license of an erred operator, adding that often times it takes the commission five months before completing the process of revoking the license of an operator.
He said the commission is also hadicap as its decisions can be reversed by the Minister of Finance.
He said: "One of the regulator that has an overwhelming power out of all the financial services, is the commissioner for insurance. You cannot have problem with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor if you don’t borrow money from the bank or do money laundry, but for the commissioner for insurance, you do insurance you can run into his problem and if you don't do insurance you can also run into his problem. Everybody that deals in insurance are under the power of the commissioner as detailed in the insurance Act.
"When you look at other countries law, the insurance regulators have self executing power which enables them to handle any one that may breach any part of the insurance law.
"When our law is reviewed and the regulator has some reasonable level of autonomy, when it has executing power in the country, then we can be there."
Soladoye said the industry's law, principally, is narrow and restrictive in so many areas. He said until the new law is passed, NAICOM has no power to execute most of its mandates.
"Go through the relevant parts of the law, and see the stages the regulator has to go through before it can withdraw the license of an erred operator. It will take NAICOM five months before the process is complete to revoke the license of an operator and thereafter the Minister of Finance can still reverse the decision.
"Originally, a regulator in that kind of environment will see that exercise as a career threatening venture," he said.
He said NAICOM is put in the middle with operators sometimes when it tries to resolve issues.
"The regulator in Nigeria is sometime put in the middle and will be asked to state it's side and the operator to also state it own whenever there is need for the regulatory to take action; with that, why do we call such body a regulator," he added.
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