EXCLUSIVE: Theft, Reckless Spending Rock NAICOM

On the website of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Olusegun Ayo Omosehin, the Chief Executive Officer, along with other members of the governing board, are advertised as  “visionary leaders” while the Commission’s core philosophy is “guided by purpose, driven by integrity.”

However, what is regularly displayed at NAICOM are symptoms of an integrity deficit, including theft, squandering, and a lack of transparency.

The latest is the stealing of 32 lithium batteries weighing 70 kilograms each by persons yet unknown from the premises of NAICOM Headquarters, despite CCTV and the presence of security operatives, including the Police.

The batteries, though fairly used and meant for auction to staff members, all disappeared from the store on Sunday, 19th October, three days before the day they were to be sold to the staff. The lithium batteries with the same capacity as those stolen at NAICOM cost between 1.3 to 2.5 million each.

The theft, suspected to have been ordered by someone at the top of the commission, was reported to the Garki Divisional Police Headquarters.

Multiple sources informed THE WHISTLER that the police are still trying to crack how such heavy items could have disappeared from a well-secured premises without someone from the top authorising the theft.

“We are told that the CCTV camera, which ought to capture the movement of the items, was tampered with, and the recording showed something was erased from it,” said a source at the Commission.

“Everything is showing that someone at the top ordered the removal of the batteries.”

The police have arrested some security operatives supposed to be on duty on the day of theft, but were later released.

THE WHISTLER also learnt that the theft of the batteries came three months after a similar theft occurred at the Victoria Island, Lagos office of the Commission, where the engine of a brand new Toyota Hilux vehicle was removed overnight.

Up till today, no one has been apprehended as the perpetrator. As a result, sources say the culprits in the brazen theft of the 32 lithium batteries may also never be known.

But what is known is that there is financial recklessness at the top of the Commission, which was revealed in the recent purchase of a new set of luxury cars for the CEO, Board Chairman, Halima Kyari, and the two deputy commissioners – Dr Usman Jimada and Mr.  Ekerete Ola Gam-Ikon.

The cars are the 2025 models of Toyota Lexus (LX 600) valued at approximately N1 billion (one billion Naira), despite having new official cars assigned to them after the board was constituted last year.

For a Commission that has been accused by industry stakeholders of lacking transparency by refusing to publish its audited annual financial statements since 2013, reckless spending like this shows it has a lot to hide.

But in a chat with THE WHISTLER, the Spokesperson of NAICOM, Halil Abba dismissed all the allegations as untrue.

“The story is not true to my knowledge, and my investigation did not reveal anything of such, I have no such information,” he said when confronted with the allegations.

In a report published by The Nation newspaper on October 21, titled “How NAICOM’s transparency deficit may hurt insurance reforms,” the writer stated that the potential gains of the recent enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025 may never materialise with the current situation in the commission.

Quoting industry experts and critical stakeholders, the report said, “Some, if not all of these expected deliverables appear to be under serious threat, fuelled by fears that NAICOM, as presently run, may constitute a stumbling block to the manifestation of the new era promised by the NIIRA 2025.

“This is so because NAICOM, as regulator, allegedly lacks the same transparency, solvency compliance, and financial disclosure it is supposed to demand from insurers.”