Some firms' 2011 accounts not yet approved, says NAICOM

Chuks Udo Okonta

The 2011 financial accounts of some insurance firms are yet to be approved due to irregularities the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), has said.

Its Director Supervision Nicholas Opara, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the affected companies presented their accounts to the commission, but were sent back due to irregularities observed. He added that the commission would never approve any account that fails to meet the required standard.

He expressed misgivings over how most operators handle their accounts, stressing that underwriters lack justification for not producing standard accounts as they are given enough time by the commission to do so.

He called on shareholders to query the management of their organisations over the amount they pay for unnecessary sanctions.

Opara called on members of audit committee to ensure that their firms' accounts are well prepared, stressing that the NAICOM is worried over the role played by the professionals engaged by firms to oversee the production of their accounts.

Deputy Commissioner, Technical NAICOM, Ibrahim Hassan, said NAICOM has directed that all infractions should be well reported in the annual accounts of companies, adding that the step was meant for shareholders to raise questions during annual general meetings, stressing that what ought to be dividends are used by companies to pay avoidable fines.

National Coordinator, Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN) Mrs Bisi Bakare, called on NAICOM to go beyond reporting of infractions in annual accounts of firms and ensure that firms state reasons for infractions to enable shareholders query them appropriately.

She noted that shareholders had at several fora sought from their organisations reasons for delays in the presentation of their accounts, and that the firms often attribute the delay to NAICOM's refusal to approve the accounts on time.