By Stanley Onyekwere
A group, under the auspices of Like Minds for Positive Change Initiative (LIMPCI), has accused Mr Sunday Thomas, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) of alleged fraud and abuse of office.
Recall that Thomas, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission was appointed in 2020 and his tenure would expire on April 30, 2024.
The group, who petitioned the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, over the alleged anomalies, called for full investigation of the alleged fraud.
Also copied in the petition were Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Economic and Financial Crime Commission, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission
In the petition, signed by its Chairman, Mr Paul Nneji, obtained in Abuja on Wednesday, the group accused Thomas of abuse of office and disregard for procedures.
They also accused Thomas of fraudulent waivers of sanctions and noneffective use of the NAICOM portal, thereby, costing the Federal Government huge revenues, and disregarding a circular prohibiting non-procurement officers from procurement activities.
On the alleged fraud, the LIMPCI accused the Commissioner of fraudulent waivers on earned penalties, leading to loss of revenues due to the federal government.
They alleged that Thomas granted huge waivers on penalties for various breaches committed by some defaulting insurance companies perceived as his close associates for likely kickbacks.
These waivers, according to the group, amounted to billions of Naira, thereby, depriving the federal government of the much-needed revenue to augment its budget deficit.
They argued that one of the sanctions of N446.4 million was reduced to N43 million, while another was reduced from N310.7 million to N33.1 million.
“Another sanction was to the tune of $126,852 but was reversed at the instant of the Commissioner.
“This is a clear violation of the NAICOM Act 1997 and Insurance Act 2003,” the group said.
On abuse of office and disregard of procedures, the group accused Thomas of refusing to transmit a letter of authority to the Deputy Commissioner for Technical while on annual leave.
They also accused him of distorting the reporting line by issuing official directives to the subordinate of the Deputy Commissioner for Finance and Administration and disregarding the recommendations of the Staff Establishment Committee amongst others.
These actions, according to the group, have led to the collapse of governance structure in the Commission and gravely affecting its efficiency in discharging its mandate.
The group also said that Thomas’s refusal to fully utilise the NAICOM portal, which came online in 2021, has continued to deprive the Federal Government of huge revenues.
They explained that the portal was designed to serve as the repository of insurance industry data and information.
They added that it was also initiated to authenticate every policy issued by the industry for effective regulation and supervision, as well as generate revenue through a surcharge for the services.
The group, however, said that instead of ensuring full utilisation of the portal, Thomas only allowed insurance policies issued by the industry to be given an authentication number, “while Nigeria Insurance Association (NIA), through the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database (NIID) continues to charge administration fees for verification of the policies authenticated by NAICOM.
“How can an umbrella organisation for all insurance and reinsurance companies in Nigeria, under NIA, own and run the NIID that is supposed to be domiciled with NAICOM, the government regulatory agency responsible for the supervision of the insurance business in Nigeria?
“According to a report from the NIA, as of January 2022, there are 12 million cars on Nigerian roads. On Motor insurance alone, the NIA should earn an average of about N3.6 billion (on the assumption of N300 per policy).
“This is money lost by the government through the poor supervisory role of NAICOM.
“It is also pertinent to note that the Commission is spending over N50 million on the maintenance and renewal of license of the portal annually, but another organisation is earning the revenue,” they claimed.
The group equally faulted the Commissioner for using non-procurement officers in the commission’s procurement processes in violations of the 2021 Public Service Rule.
They added that the action also violated the circular from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, issued on June 14, 2017, prohibiting officers on other cadres from procurement functions where career procurement officers exist.
“LIMPCI, therefore, called for an urgent intervention of the Minister of Finance, to investigate the alleged frauds and other anomalies, perpetrated under the guise of waivers and disregard of extant laws.
“This will rebuild the confidence of stakeholders in the insurance industry,” the group said.
When contacted, the NAICOM boss, Mr Thomas, denied knowledge of the petition, adding that the group had not approached him on the issues.
“I have not seen the petition, but I occupy a public office and members of the public are free to air their opinion and views about what they feel.
“I report to the Honourable Minister of Finance. I am sure he will draw my attention to it and I will respond accordingly,” he said.
