By GINIKA OKOYE

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) says the recapitalisation deadline for the insurance industry will not be extended.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Olusegun Omosehin, said this at a seminar for insurance journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

Omosehin, represented by Dr Usman Jankara, NAICOM’s Deputy Commissioner, Technical, said the deadline fixed for July, 2026 was reasonable, doable and achievable by serious players in the industry.

He said that the deadline was a law backed by the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA, 2025).

“I want to state equivocally that the recapitalisation deadline will not be extended.

”This is because it is a law and we do not have the power to change the law except we go back to the National Assembly for amendment and it goes back to the President for assent.

“That is not a journey that we are willing to embark on,” he said.

Omosehin said that the commission would come up with new insurance companies that are stronger and more reliable in transacting insurance businesses in the country at the end of the deadline.

He said that NIIRA was another landmark legislation that had provided a modern regulatory framework to strengthen supervision, promote innovation, and enhance consumer protection.

The Commissioner said that NIIRA had also provided better consumer protection through stronger market control rules, clearer penalty statements and stiffer penalties for regulatory breaches.

Omosehin said that the objective of the seminar was to foster collaboration and keep the standard of the insurance sector.

He said that the seminar was to promote accurate, balanced, responsible reporting on insurance matters.

According to him, it is also highlight the bold actions taken by the commission to ensure that insurance policyholders and potential policyholders are adequately protected.

In a lecture, Mr Gbenga Jayesimi, the Head, Market Conduct and Complaints Bureau of the Commission, said that NIIRA would help to increase insurance penetration across the country.

Jayesimi said that NIIRA 2025 would align the country’s insurance regulations with global standards and support the government’s ambition of building a one trillion dollar economy.

He said that It would help to reduce fraud and protect consumers from unscrupulous operations of people selling fake policy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the recapitalisation exercise, the new Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) was increased to N10 billion for life insurance.

That of general Insurance was increased to N15 billion and Reinsurance was increased to N35 billion. (NAN)