By Funmilayo Olusanya

The outstanding pension debt owed to former employees of NICON Insurance and Delta Steel Company, which was estimated to worth over N7 billion, has been paid off by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate.

The sum represented the liquidation of the 56-month pension obligations owed to former employees of NICON Insurance and the 49-month pension obligations owed to former employees of Delta Steel Company.

The agency reported that a total of 4,691 former employees of both organizations were impacted by the liquidated pensions.

Dr. Chioma Ejikeme, executive secretary of PTAD, stated during a news conference on Thursday in Abuja that a total of 100 months’ worth of NICON Insurance pension arrears and 96 months’ worth of Delta Steel arrears were inherited.

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She said that inherited unfunded obligations for disbanded government ministries were estimated to be around N95 billion, adding up to a total monthly pension expense of N2.298 billion and a yearly bill of N62.073 billion for the disbanded organizations.

“As at today, we have settled a total of over N39bn of the inherited N95bn, with N3.4bn of this amount making up one-off payments. These payments are ongoing,” she said.

She said that PTAD had successfully and regularly paid pensioners monthly without fail and had made payment of over N8.5bn as accumulated arrears of pensions and gratuities to pensioners of the Civil Service Pension Department and the next-of-kins of deceased pensioners through the Expanded Computation Project.

“With the liquidation of these inherited liabilities, the burden keeps getting lighter, and we will continue to work with all the relevant agencies of government to ensure that all accrued pension arrears are fully liquidated, especially the 63 months of inherited pension liability owed the ex-workers of NITEL/MTEL and their Next-of-Kin which we will continue soon,” she assured.

The PTAD was established to respond to grievances pensioners had with the previous defined benefits plan.

Ejikeme stated that the agency had completed the “I Am Alive” Confirmation Solution’s pilot phase and had solidified plans for the solution’s full distribution.

She pointed out that the solution removed the dangers and stress associated with traveling to different locations for field verifications and revealed PTAD’s intention to improve life for elderly adults in the nation so they could enjoy their retirement without stress.

Modupe ASUDO

ABUJA-THE Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) have signed insurance services guideline which will oblige the oil and gas industry to patronize the local insurance sector, thereby retaining insurance spending in the economy.

The guidelines will also address loopholes that have been identified while implementing the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, particularly sections 49 and 50, which deals with insurance of oil and gas activities. The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote and the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Thomas signed the guidelines recently on behalf of their organisations in Yenagoa. In his remarks, the Executive Secretary stated that the provisions of sections 49 and 50 of the NOGICD Act require all operators engaged in any form of activity or project in the Oil and Gas industry to insure all insurable risks related to its oil and gas business with an insurance company, through an insurance broker registered in Nigeria.

He stressed further that the Act provides that where an operator seeks to place an insurable risk offshore, a written approval of NAICOM must first be sought and obtained and that NAICOM before the issuance of the approval must ascertain that local capacity has been fully exhausted. Wabote reiterated that the Insurance guideline will strengthen the Board’s local content drive and ensure that a greater portion of the spend in the Insurance industry as it relates to oil and gas activities in Nigeria is retained in-country. In his words, “the insurance guideline being launched today was developed by the two regulatory bodies to ensure that government’s intention of promoting insurance services within the country is achieved so as to capture significant financial spend under oil and gas insurance services in country.”

The NCDMB chieftain said the collaboration between Board and NAICOM will further ensure the successful implementation of the Insurance Guidelines and every other activity that will lead to the attainment of the objectives of the NOGICD Act, 2010 as well as 70 percent Nigerian Content by 2027 under the Board’s 10-Year Strategic Roadmap. He added that finer details of the guidelines will be released at the Nigerian Content Seminar at the 2022 Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference scheduled for July 2022.

In his comments, the Commissioner for Insurance, NAICOM, Mr. Sunday Thomas charged all stakeholders engaged in any form of business, operations or contract in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to ensure compliance with the relevant laws and compliance with the insurance Guidelines. Thomas expressed optimism that the partnership between the Board and NAICOM will realize the benefits of increased local content, in-country value retention, job creation and employment generation and GDP growth amongst other. While appreciating the efforts of the Board, the NAICOM boss pledged his agency’s commitment to create an enabling environment that will consistently enhance increased capacity of the Insurance Institutions both financially and technically.

LAGOS-LEADWAY Assurance Company Limited has launched a new life product named the Leadway Family Benefit Plan Plus (LFBPP).

The product is a multi-life policy designed to cover funeral expenses for the assured lives (spouse, parents and/or parents-in-law that are named in the policy) and the policy holder (person who purchased the policy).

The policy helps to alleviate and bury the worries associated with the funerals for elderly loved ones. Product launch: Managing Director, Mr. Oye Hassan Odukale; Mr. Shadrack Sivhugwana, Head Life Actuary; and two member of staff all of Leadway Assurance Company Limited at the launch of Leadway Family Benefit Plan Plus (LFBPP) at the corporate head office in Lagos.

Speaking at the product launch held at the corporate office of Leadway Assurance in Lagos, Head, Life Retail, Mr. Femi Adebayo, explained that the policy provided funeral benefits in respect of all the assured lives as long as their death preceded that of the policyholder.

The policy also provided other benefits including offering additional monthly payments to the beneficiaries of the policyholder in the event of his demise. According to him, the Family Benefit Plan Plus was one of the ways in which Leadway Assurance was making life beautiful for its customers.

Also speaking at the launch, General Manager, Life Division, Mr. Shadrack Sivhugwana said he expected that the demand for funeral insurance will be the main driver of insurance growth in Africa in the next couple years, charging the public to take advantage of the new product and be prepared when the inevitable happens.

Established over 45 years ago, Leadway is a composite insurance company underwriting both life and general insurance business with 23 branches spread across Nigeria.

Leadway’s reputation has been attained by the continuing pursuit of improvements to maintain its competitive advantage within a very soft market environment. The company also offers subsidiary financial services like bonds, secured credit, miscellaneous financial losses and fund/portfolio management.

-Vanguard