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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has cancelled the Certificate of Registration of NICON Insurance Company Limited (RIC-049), and has appointed Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, as Receiver/Provisional Liquidator of the company.
The cancellation of the company’s licence follows its failure to meet the regulator’s prescribed capital requirements.
The Receiver/Provisional Liquidator has issued a public notice directing policyholders, creditors, business partners, and federal, state and FCT land registries to route all matters concerning the affairs, assets, and business of NICON Insurance Limited (In-Liquidation) to his office.
The notice warned that any transactions, contracts, commitments, or other dealings purportedly carried out on behalf of NICON Insurance (In-Liquidation) would not be honoured without the Receiver/Liquidator’s ratification.
The development effectively transfers control of the company’s affairs to the appointed Receiver/Provisional Liquidator, who is expected to secure its assets, determine its liabilities, and oversee the winding-up of its operations in line with the law.
NAICOM’s action forms part of its enforcement of the new minimum capital requirements introduced under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, which set a deadline for operators to recapitalise. NICON Insurance was among the operators that failed to meet the requirement within the stipulated timeframe, resulting in the withdrawal of its licence.
With the Receiver/Provisional Liquidator now in place, the next phase will involve taking control of the company’s assets and records, identifying legitimate liabilities, and ensuring an orderly winding-up process. The Receiver is also expected to liaise with NAICOM on issues arising from the liquidation and to submit periodic progress reports.
The exercise places the interests of policyholders, creditors, and other stakeholders at its centre, particularly around verifying and settling legitimate claims.
Analysts describe the appointment of a Receiver/Provisional Liquidator as a significant regulatory intervention, since it takes the affected company out of the normal course of business and places its affairs under an officer whose duty is to preserve and realise its assets to meet lawful obligations. The arrangement is also meant to guard against unauthorised dealings with the company’s assets during the liquidation period.
NAICOM has consistently maintained that enforcing the recapitalisation requirements is meant to strengthen the financial base of the insurance industry and ensure that only adequately capitalised firms remain in operation. The regulator recently disclosed that 43 insurance and reinsurance companies successfully met the new minimum capital requirements before the close of the recapitalisation exercise.
The NICON case, therefore, marks the start of the formal process to wind down the company’s affairs, subject to applicable legal and regulatory procedures.
