NAICOM Clarifies N4bn Office Acquisition Bid, Says Adequate Due Diligence Was Conducted

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) says adequate due diligence was conducted on the property and all relevant approvals from appropriate approving authorities were received by its management before acquiring a new office building in Abuja.

This is its reaction to a media report titled “Trouble looms in NAICOM over purchase of N4bn uncompleted office building as new.”

The insurance industry regulator denied any wrongdoing in the transaction, as the Executive Council of the Federation gave the necessary approval for the purchase of the building.

The approval, the Commission clarified in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, followed due process, as a certificate of “No Objection” was obtained from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) based on the valuation of the property by the official of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

The statement by NAICOM management titled “Re: Trouble looms in NAICOM over purchase of N4bn uncompleted office building as new” reads: “The attention of Management of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM is drawn to the above captioned publication in the Vanguard Newspaper of August

29, 2022 in which the Commission was, among other things, alleged to have deceived President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and the Federal Executive Council into approving the purchase of a new office building in Abuja.

“It was also stated in the publication that the Commission said it was buying a “ready to use magnificent office complex” rather than an uncompleted building.

“While the Commission does not intend to join issues with the media, it has become

imperative that the general public be availed with the facts as they are.

“It is on this premise that the Commission states as follows:

That the management of the Commission through the Honourable Minister of

Finance, Budget and National Planning presented to the Federal Executive Council

presided over by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR an Unfinished

property for approval to be acquired as NAICOM Academy and office accommodation following the approval by the immediate past Governing Board of the Commission.

“All documents relating to the property clearly state that the property was in an unfinished state.

“The Commission had prior the FEC approval, obtained a “No Objection” from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) following the valuation of the property by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

“Adequate due diligence was conducted on the property for acquisition and all relevant approvals were secured by the Commission.

“Provision was made in the 2022 approved annual budget of the Commission for the purpose of acquiring the building for the Commission.

“The building is to serve the dual purpose of housing the newly established NAICOM Academy which is an initiative of the present leadership of the Commission to address knowledge gap in the insurance sector regulation and supervision not only in Nigeria, but across Africa and beyond and also serve as the new head office of the Commission.

“In order to address the problem of low insurance penetration, entrench the culture of insurance in every part of the country and enhance the effectiveness of its

surveillance in all the geopolitical zones of the country, the expansion of the Commission’s infrastructural facilities is inevitable thus the Commission requires a befitting Office accommodation to curtail any future office space crises.

September 02, 2022