News Investigators/ The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) is to partner with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on ensuring that concessionaires procure insurance covers for assets under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.
This is contained in a statement by the Acting Head, Media and Publicity, ICRC, Ifeanyi Nwoko, on Wednesday in Abuja.
The two organisations reached the agreement during a visit by the Chief Executive Officer of NAICOM Olusegun Omosehin, to the Director General of ICRC, Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, in Abuja.
In his remark, the ICRC boss reiterated the need for all strategic assets of the Federal Government to be insured and commended NAICOM for following it up with a visit.
Mr Ewalefoh said that insurance of PPP assets was not optional but mandatory as it was stipulated in Section 7(2)a of the ICRC Act (2005) which states.
According to him, the Act sates that the project proponent or contractor shall undertake appropriate insurance policy on the concession with an insurance company approved by the National Insurance Commission.
“We have to ensure that the concessionaires obtain the appropriate insurance policy that they are required by law to undertake in line with the value of the asset.
“Working in collaboration with NAICOM, we would be able to determine if the right insurance policy has been obtained,” he said.
Mr Ewalefoh added that the ICRC was already requesting concessionaires of new PPP projects to provide proof of insurance cover for the projects they were about to undertake.
He said that the ICRC would now work out modalities in conjunction with NAICOM to ensure compliance by concessionaires of ongoing projects that were yet to procure insurance for the project.
According to him, the modalities will be issued by January 2025 to all concessionaires.
On his part, the CEO of NAICOM, Olusegun Omosehin, said his commission was charged with regulating and supervising the insurance sector in Nigeria, while also advising government and its agencies on insurance matters.
He said the NAICOM was responsible for ensuring that critical national assets had adequate cover.
According to him, one key thing that made this meeting possible was the position of the DG on insurance of PPP assets when he met with the Interior Minister.
“We are here to forge that partnership that will enable that provision in the law to be enforced.
“I hope NAICOM and ICRC will use this opportunity to forge a quick alliance in ensuring that the partnership works in ensuring that the compliance part of the law works,” he said.
The NAICOM boss commended the ICRC counterpart for his position on enforcing insurance, adding that the power to enforce insurance across all sectors was not contained in the NAICOM Act but only in the Act of other agencies like ICRC.
He added that NAICOM was willing to offer effective trainings to ICRC officers who will be part of the technical committee.
High point of the meeting was the appointment of a joint technical committee by the two agencies to work out modalities for optimising insurance covers for all government PPP assets.
NAN
