We got FG’s approval to purchase of N4bn office building – NAICOM

The management of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) says it got the approval of the Federal government for purchase of an unfinished office building to house the Commission’s Academy.

The commission responding to media report, not Business Day, where it was alleged to have deceived President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and the Federal Executive Council into approving the purchase of a new office building in Abuja, said.

“That the management of the Commission through the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning presented to the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, an unfinished property for approval to be acquired as NAICOM Academy and office accommodation following the approval by the immediate past Governing Board of the Commission.

All documents relating to the property clearly state that the property was in an unfinished state.

The Commission had prior the FEC approval, obtained a “No Objection” from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) following the valuation of the property by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

According to NAICOM, adequate due diligence was conducted on the property for acquisition and all relevant approvals were secured by the Commission.

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Provision was made in the 2022 approved annual budget of the Commission for the purpose of acquiring the building for the Commission.

“The building is to serve the dual purpose of housing the newly established NAICOM Academy which is an initiative of the present leadership of the Commission to address knowledge gap in the insurance sector regulation and supervision not only in Nigeria but across Africa and beyond and also serve as the new head office of the Commission.”

The commission, said in order to address the problem of low insurance penetration, entrench the culture of insurance in every part of the country, and enhance the effectiveness of its surveillance in all the geopolitical zones of the country, the expansion of the Commission’s infrastructural facilities is inevitable thus the Commission requires a befitting Office accommodation to curtail any future office space crises.

This clarification has become necessary to clear any doubt in the minds of the public with respect to the process followed by the Commission in its efforts at acquiring the property.