Economy
NAICOM Wants Compulsory Insurance for Government Assets
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has called on the federal government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to domesticate and help in the enforcement of compulsory insurance.
The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, made this call at the sensitisation workshop in Abuja for insurance desk officers of MDAs on the need to insure federal government assets and liabilities.
Mr Thomas noted that it was now become imperative to put in place measures to guide MDAs on procuring adequate insurances for assets under their watch.
According to the Commissioner, this follows the provision contained in Section 7 (d) of the NAICOM Act 1997 which stipulates that the commission shall ensure adequate protection of strategic government assets and other properties.
Section 7 (f) of the Act also provides that the commission shall act as Adviser to the federal government on all insurance-related matters.
He said it was pertinent to note that the agency can better achieve its task with the full cooperation of the MDAs.
Mr Thomas said it was very worrisome to the commission that most assets and liabilities of government are never adequately and appropriately insured, which further draws attention to the need for urgent measures to be put in place by the agency to ensure that government gets value for money in the purchase of insurance by MDAs and that it is the desire of NAICOM to change this narrative for good.
In his words, “The essence of insurance of government assets and liabilities is to cushion the impact and reduce the burden that the government would have to bear in likely occurrences of catastrophic events such as natural disasters, fire, accidents, building collapse, injuries or death to third parties, thereby saving the government money which can be channelled towards augmenting the needs of the citizenry, providing infrastructure, and creating employment, among others.
“As you may be aware, NAICOM in 2009, launched the Market Development and Restructuring Initiative (MDRI) project which aimed at the creation of awareness on compulsory insurance products, education of the public on the long-term benefits of insurance to policyholders and the economy at large, among others.
“While NAICOM bore the responsibility of disseminating key messaging on the benefits of compulsory insurance, we relied on government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to help domesticate the Initiative in their respective offices and perhaps, serve as the primary vehicles for enforcement of compulsory insurances in their various MDAs,” he said.
Mr Thomas also said the sensitisation workshop was aimed at equipping insurance desk officers with the necessary tools to ensure that all MDAs have adequate insurance coverage for all government assets and liabilities to curb wastage occasioned by losses of uninsured assets.
He maintained that it was expected that insurance desk officers will have the capacity to gauge the insurance protection needs of government assets under their purview and provide their principals with technical advice on the required insurance coverage for government assets and liabilities.
“Building the capacity of insurance desk officers, enthroning transparency and accountability to ensure that government gets value for money in the purchase of insurance thus taking us all a step further in contributing effectively to the economic growth and development of Nigeria is an ongoing project of the Commission,” he added.
The commissioner further noted that the government, represented by the MDAs is a critical stakeholder in the insurance value chain.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude production under the collective Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) fell in May to its lowest level in at least 37 years as the blockade of Iran by the United States and disruptions in the Persian Gulf, continued to limit output.
According to a Bloomberg survey released on Friday, output from the organisation’s 11 current members, including Nigeria, dropped by 1.22 million barrels per day to 16.33 million barrels per day last month.
Iran accounted for more than half of the decline. The data excludes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which departed the cartel last month after six decades of membership.
War between a US-Israeli alliance and Iran has reduced oil supplies from the Middle East, largely closing the Strait of Hormuz waterway. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait have been forced to cut crude production. Iranian shipments face additional pressure following a US blockade of its ports imposed in mid-April.
Iranian output fell by 710,000 barrels per day to a five-year low of 2.34 million barrels per day in May, the survey showed. Central Command reported that US forces have redirected 127 commercial vessels to enforce the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports.
Kuwait recorded the second-largest decline last month, with production falling by 310,000 barrels per day to 490,000 barrels per day, less than one-fifth of pre-war levels. Saudi Arabia, the group’s leader, saw output decrease by 240,000 barrels per day to 6.57 million barrels per day.
The production reductions have not prevented OPEC and its allies from raising quotas over recent months, continuing a year-long process of restoring output halted several years ago.
This comes ahead of a meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 7, where a sub-group of seven members is expected to increase targets by 188,000 barrels again in July. The session is one of four online meetings OPEC and its partners plan to hold that day.
Delegates indicated the alliance has plans for two additional monthly quota increases in August and September. UAE output rose by 300,000 barrels per day to 2.44 million barrels per day in May, according to the survey.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 2025 third quarter Budget Implementation Report from the Budget Office of the Federation has shown that the federal government exceeded the funds allocation for repayment of debts for the first nine months of the fiscal year by about 18 per cent.
In a report by Punch, the sum of N10.74 trillion was budgeted for debt servicing between January and September 2025, but the government used N12.63 trillion for the purpose, N1.90 trillion or 17.65 per cent more than the allocation for the year.
The funds were spent on domestic debts, foreign debts and sinking fund by the central government in nine months.
Business Post reports that for the whole year, the amount approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu for debt repayments was N14.31 trillion.
Looking at the nine-month figures, domestic debt service gulped N6.23 trillion, exceeding its N5.39 trillion provision, while foreign debt service was N6.30 trillion versus the budget provision of N5.06 trillion.
According to the report, the figures indicated that 67.2 per cent of the federal government’s retained revenue of N18.63 trillion was spent on debt service in the first nine months of 2025. When the sinking fund is included, debt-related payments consumed about 67.8 per cent of revenue.
It was also observed that aggregate federal government revenue underperformed the budget by N12.03 trillion or 39.24 per cent, as actual revenue of N18.63 trillion fell short of the N30.67 trillion projected for the first three quarters.
In the third quarter alone, the government generated N7.70 trillion versus the quarterly target of N10.22 trillion as a result of persistent oil revenue shortfalls, despite stronger non-oil collections.
The debt burden also crowded out capital spending, as total capital expenditure was N3.10 trillion in the first nine months compared with the N17.58 trillion budgeted for the period, indicating that actual debt-related payments were more than four times capital expenditure.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.
Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.
The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.
For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.
There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
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