Stakeholders are optimistic that in spite of the twist in former President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent to the Insurance Bill 2020, the market’s commitment to getting it sealed and delivered to all participants has not dampened.
The bill was missing among the several signed by former President Buhari.
With the 10th National Assembly set for legislative duties and their hands already on the insurance plow, insurance stakeholders are keen and set for an accelerated legislative law-making process, the disappointment of the ninth assembly notwithstanding.
The Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Sunday Thomas, also feels the discomfort of the initial failure and sees light at the end of the tunnel.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t finalise the bill at the last administration. It got very late to the president and he couldn’t give his assent before he left,” Thomas told journalists.
He explained further, “There are processes and procedures for such. We are not going back to the beginning. The National Assembly is looking at it again. It has gone through the first reading at the House and Senate. We are following up and want to see it concluded as quickly as possible.”
Thomas is optimistic that the second wave of the legislative process would be successful and on time and of the opinion that the deadline would not be stretched as it was in the first attempt.
Recounting what was expected and dashed at the time hope was scaling up that a new insurance law was to birth, Thomas said, “We had very high hopes that the last administration was going to conclude it, but that was not to be. But we have not given up hope.”
Knowing how much input the NAICOM made during the previous attempt that failed to materialise at the assent stage and now, its preparedness to act on the transforming provisions of the Act, the Thomas said, “We know that the bill is a game changer because of what has been loaded into it. We are not just sitting and waiting for the bill. We are preparing for it because we know the content. So, we are already preparing ourselves for when it will be signed into an Act so that we can hit the ground running.”
The regulator, NAICOM, trade bodies and other related stakeholders are confident that the bill will sail through this time around.
Another stealth mark is the commitment of all interests to have an endearing insurance law that meets today’s practice, operations and regulations.
Three years ago, the Insurance Bill 2020 began the journey of the legislative process of law-making through the ardent commitment of Honourable Darlington Nwokocha, the Chairman of the House of Represenatatives Committee of Insurance and Actuarial Matters.
Prior to the emergence of Nwokocha’s effort, the first short, Consolidated Insurance Bill, a combined effort of the regulator, the National Insurance Commission and all the arms of the industry lost the breath of life in the hands of the executive arm that failed to give its assent.
However, before the upset, the Nkwocha’s members’ bill heralded a rousing welcome from all the arms and trade bodies and as the bill processing began, they all converged on Abuja to make inputs into the bill making.
Past chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Ganiyu Musa, had expressed confidence that the Insurance Bill 2020, which was midwifed in his term, would eventually be assented to by the former president but was eventually scuttled.
He had displayed robust hope that an insurance Act was in the offing because a lot of progress had been made.
It was not just an exciting process for the entire industry. Musa said, “For me personally it has been a very interesting learning experience… law making is very cumbersome, it takes time.”
Commenting on the various points of interest in the bill, Musa said, “There are a lot of interests. The Nigerian Insurers Association has a certain position, the regulator will have a position and brokers will have a position, the insuring public will have a position and different agencies of government will have different positions. Making laws involved reconciling some of these positions. Some of them are conflicting so you have to find the middle ground having in mind the interest of the insuring public.”
Speaking on NIA’s expectation on what became the first missionary journey of the insurance bill, Musa said, “Our expectation is that the legislative process is completed before the new government in 2023 so that we don’t get a setback and go through the learning curve again.”
Speaking with hindsight at that time that it could go either way, signed into law or become a failed bill, the NIA chairman said anyway it went, “We are committed to the bill.”
Confident that his successor will remain on the course on the bill going through, Musa, preparing for the change of leadership at the Insurers House, said, “The good thing for us as an association is that the change in leadership does not change the commitment. It is all part of our development plan and we are committed to it.”
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