New NICON board meets amidst tight security

The new Board of the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria better known as NICON Insurance has taken over the firm with its maiden board meeting on Monday, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said.

BPE in a statement, on Tuesday, said the meeting was held at the corporation’s head office in Abuja amidst tight security and was presided over by the interim board chairman, Alhaji Lamis S. Dikko.

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He addressed some of NICON’s management staff led by the Deputy General Manager (DGM), Corporate Advocacy, Mr Kunle Adewale.

Dikko called for cooperation with the board to reposition the insurance company which he described as a national legacy.

He also said the mandate of the new board is to preserve NICON Insurance as a going concern until a new investor comes aboard as the previous owner had woefully failed to sustain and maintain the organisation.

Director-General of the BPE, Mr Alex A. Okoh, also a board member, lamented the decay at the place and said it was one of the few bad cases of privatisation in the country.

The interim Managing Director, Mr John Abuh Oyidiih charged the workers to cooperate with the board and management to reclaim the lost glory of the insurance company “which is an institution and can’t be allowed to go down”, adding that “you do not need to hold an allegiance to any individual but the institution”.

NICON Insurance was privatised in 2005 with the core investor having 70 per cent shares with the Federal Government retaining 30%.

The Federal Government shares were later diluted but the fortunes of the company continued to decline with most of the assets used as collateral to collect loans from banks.

This prompted the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to take over affairs of the company, a decision the core investor went to court to challenge.

The court ruled in favour of AMCON but the investor went on an appeal which the court asked the parties to maintain the status quo leading to Monday’s take over by the new board.