NAICOM Disowns Niger Insurance’s Claims and Reaffirms Four-Year Receivership
Four years after it pulled the plug, the National Insurance Commission is still fighting to keep Niger Insurance Plc closed. On July 17, 2026, NAICOM issued a sharp public rebuttal to newspaper notices published two days earlier by individuals claiming to speak for the company, calling the publication “false, mischievous and grossly misleading.”
The core of the regulator’s message was unchanged since 2022: Niger Insurance’s operating licence remains revoked, the former board and management remain dissolved, and Otunba Sanya Ogunkuade remains the lawfully appointed Receiver/Liquidator. The Commission is telling policyholders, creditors and the public to ignore anyone else purporting to act for the company and to direct all enquiries to the Receiver’s office at Plot 217, Upper Grace Plaza, 3rd Floor, Shetima Munguno Crescent, Utako, Abuja.
Why the renewed statement? The dispute is playing out in both the courts and the media. NAICOM revoked Niger Insurance’s licence in 2022 after the company was declared insolvent and unable to settle verified claims. To wind things down, it appointed a Receiver to take control of assets and pay liabilities.
That decision was immediately challenged by some former directors. The Federal High Court dismissed their suit in January 2023, ruling they lacked legal capacity to sue once a Receiver was in place. The directors appealed. The Court of Appeal struck out that appeal in February 2025. A further appeal is now pending at the Supreme Court.
Into that mix came a new judgment. On June 5, 2026, a Federal High Court delivered a ruling that the July 15 publication cited as evidence that management had been restored. NAICOM says that interpretation is wrong. According to the Commission, both NAICOM and the Receiver have filed appeals and applications for a stay of execution. It insists the June judgment does not overturn the 2025 Court of Appeal decision that affirmed the licence cancellation.
The regulator is also questioning the legitimacy of the July 15 publication itself. It notes that some of the former directors listed as plaintiffs in the recent suit have formally written to say their names were used “without their knowledge or consent.” NAICOM has gone further and petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over what it calls unlawful attempts by certain individuals to present themselves as management and to interfere with company assets that are legally under receivership.
Critically, this is not just a legal technicality. The stakes are real for thousands of policyholders and creditors who have outstanding claims. By law, once a licence is revoked and a Receiver appointed, the company cannot underwrite new business, and all assets must be marshalled for the settlement of existing liabilities. NAICOM’s five-point advisory restates that: the licence is cancelled, the board is dissolved, only the Receiver has authority, and the public should distance itself from impostors.
The Commission’s forceful tone reflects a broader problem in Nigeria’s insurance clean-up. The Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act 2025 has set new minimum capital rules and a deadline that is forcing weak insurers to raise capital or exit. In that environment, a failed insurer trying to resurrect itself through media notices creates confusion and risks new policyholders being sold invalid cover.
There is also a governance question. How did a publication purporting to be from “management” get into newspapers four years after a licence revocation? NAICOM’s answer is that it is mischief, and that it is now involving the police. The fact that some named plaintiffs are disowning the suit suggests internal fractures among the former directors, and possibly a faction trying to regain control of assets before the Receiver completes the wind-down.
For the market, the takeaway is straightforward. Nothing about Niger Insurance’s legal status has changed. The licence revoked in 2022 is still cancelled. The Receiver appointed by NAICOM is still in charge. Court decisions in 2023 and 2025 upheld that position, and the June 2026 judgment is itself under appeal with a stay sought.
Policyholders with pending claims should continue to file with the Receiver. Investors should treat any solicitation from “Niger Insurance management” as unauthorized. And regulators have signaled they will not allow a backdoor reopening through press statements while the substantive matter is still before the Supreme Court.
In an industry trying to rebuild trust ahead of NIIRA 2025 compliance, NAICOM’s intervention is as much about market discipline as it is about one company. The message: receivership means receivership, and until the Supreme Court says otherwise, Niger Insurance remains closed.
