THE enforcement of approved revised Public Service Rules (PSR) by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has cut short the services of Barineka Thompson at the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) after spending eight years as a Director.
Two other Directors that have been affected by the directive are Pius Agboola and Habila Amos who were served with the NAICOM compulsory retirement letters, pursuant to a recently issued Public Service circular on eight years and above tenure for all Federal Directors.
A memo on the Implementation of the Tenure Policy from the Director Administration, which takes its relevance from the 2021 Revised Edition of the PSR which took effect from 27th July 2023, sealed the compulsory retirement of directors in federal government payroll that had served up to eight years and above.
“Consequently, all Directors (SGL 17) who have spent eight (8) years and above on the post are by this Internal Circular directed to submit their notice of retirement in line with section 020909 of the revised PSR effective from the date stated thereof,” the memo stated.
After the flag was raised for his compulsory retirement, the obviously unperturbed Thompson expressed delight that he was leaving the NAICOM satisfied that he offered his best while there.
He reacted thus: “I have done 10 years and 10 months to the glory of God. It’s only the end of the 3rd phase of my career (NICON Insurance, Linkage Assurance, and NAICOM) and the next one has just begun.”
Thompson was no doubt an asset to the Commission, and he possesses several professional qualifications before the NAICOM hired him, and while still working for the Commission.
He is a Fellow of ICAN, an associate member of ACIT, AMNIM, and also has anti-money laundering certifications both in Nigeria and the US.
Thompson states that he is the only Resident Nigerian with the Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Advanced AML Audit Specialist (CAMS-(CAMS-AUDIT) certification to date.
His tentacles spread across the various projects either undertaken or being implemented by the NAICOM, having been the brain behind most of the regulatory policies, supervisory initiatives, and implementation of major projects of the Commission.
Thompson said he was the concept initiator and team lead of the ‘revered’ concept of the Tier-Based Minimum Solvency Capital (TBMSC), a Nigeria-specific capital varied solvency capital application that was stopped by a Court order.
When the adoption and implementation of the IFRS 17 Insurance Contract debuted in 2017 and with an effective date of January 1, 2023, Mr. Thompson steered the way for NAICOM and the insurance industry.
He served as the NAICOM/Industry Team Lead on IFRS 17 Implementation until his recent compulsory retirement and laid the foundation for seamless implementation and supervision of IFRS 17 by the insurance industry.
He exited the Commission as the Director, Finance and Accounts. Before then, he had served as Director, Supervision and also Director, Inspectorate, and on the two technical positions, he covered offsite, onsite supervision, and AML/CFT.
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