Stakeholders to be invited
according to the resolution of the upper chamber included the National
Insurance Commission (NAICOM), registered Insurance companies in Nigeria,
relevant law enforcement agencies.
The Senate yesterday
mandated its Committee on Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions
to invite stakeholders in the insurance sector to look into recent findings
which showed that over 12 million motorists in the country use fake insurance
papers.
The stakeholder, the Senate
said, should urgently deliberate on ways and means of ensuring the strict
implementation and compliance with the six compulsory insurance schemes as
provided in the Act and invoke sanctions where necessary.
The resolutions followed a
motion by Senator Ahmed Salau Ogembe (Kogi Central) and eight others entitled,
“Implementation of the compulsory insurance in Nigeria as provided in the
‘Insurance Act Regulation, 2003.’
Senator Ogembe in his lead
debate lamented that of the 16 million vehicles in the country, only four
million are properly insured.
He noted that the
“Insurance Act and Regulation 2003” expressly provides for six compulsory
insurance schemes namely: (i) The Third Party Motor/vehicle insurance (ii)
Building under construction insurance (iii) Group Life insurance (iv) Public
buildings insurance (v) Workman Compensation insurance (vi) professional
indemnity insurance.
He further noted that these
insurance schemes are made mandatory to take care of third party liabilities
arising from the actions or inactions of a person, group/organizations in the
course of their activities.
The Kogi Central lawmaker
said that he is worried that the country is grossly under-insured “and
basically, her citizens do not take advantage of services rendered by this very
important sector of the economy as a result of many reasons such as; (a) the
existence of unregistered insurance institutions within the system (b)
ignorance and gross knowledge gap. (c) apathy occasioned by several factors
including mistrust and fear for the whole concept of insurance (d) Poverty.”
Senator Ogembe also said
that he is worried that there are presently 58 insurance companies registered
with the National Insurance Commission, “yet there are uncountable number of
unregistered insurance institutions selling worthless insurance certificates to
unsuspecting members of the public.”
“This reprehensible act is
mostly manifest in the third party motor/vehicle insurance scheme where such
unregistered institutions connive with relevant law enforcement agencies to
perpetrate their act,” he said.
He noted that Section 3(a)
(b), section 4(1-4) of the Insurance Act, 2003, expressly provides the
conditions for the registration of an insurance company in Nigeria, yet these
provisions are frequently flouted.
The lawmaker said that he
is alarmed at the staggering number of Nigerians who seek for help for various
reasons including mishaps at workplace, illnesses traceable to occupational
hazards, debilitating injuries and even death as a result of motor accidents,
injuries and death resulting from building collapse, despite the
“Building under
construction Insurance” and the “Public Building Insurance” as provided in the
Insurance and Regulation Act, 2003.
He noted that it is equally
disturbing that these Nigerians often have no choice but to have recourse to
both the electronic and print media to seek help which more often, do not
produce the expected results.
He expressed confidence
that if the “Compulsory Insurance Schemes”” are implemented as provided in the
Insurance Act, most of challenges raised would be solved.
Senator Ogembe added that
he is further convinced that insurance is a huge/serious business and its
potential in country towards solving social and economic problems cannot be
over emphasized.
He insisted that the Senate
should be determined to make necessary changes in the interest of the country
and the insurance sector.
Apart from inviting
stakeholders to deliberate on the challenges, the Senate also mandated NAICOM
to properly orientate the public on the Insurance Policies as stipulated in the
Act and make known to the public the 58 registered Insurance Companies through
sustained enlightenment in the national media.
It said that the National
Assembly should pay more attention to the Insurance sector through appropriate
legislation and deliberate actions to raise the status of Insurance in Nigeria
to be at par with other sectors such as Banking and Capital Market as well as
complying with best practices globally.
No comments:
Post a Comment