Fed Govt pays Group Life insurance premium

By Omobola Tolu-Kusimo

The Federal Government has paid this year’s Group Life Insurance for its workers, the President, Nigerian Council of Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Mrs. Bola Onigbogi has said, in Lagos.

Mrs. Onigbogi, represented by the Vice President of the Council, Mr. Tunde Oguntade, urged the Federal Government to engage registered insurance brokers to mitigate the risk of contract failures.

She stated that until the government engaged insurance brokers, it would continue to record failure of contracts.

She noted that the relationship between the Council, the National Insurance Commission, as well as the National Assembly had inched up significantly.

She said: “The 2020 Group Life is off the schedule because full premium has been paid on the account for the current year, there’s no lapse in cover at the moment unlike before.

“What we are doing, on our part, is to sensitise ministers through our liaison committee and leadership that the contract failure you have all over the federation would not happen if you have insurance and brokers arranging them for you. Contract failures are sometimes premeditated and we hope government will use insurance to correct the anomaly.”

She further said the Council was invited to make a presentation on the public procurement Act, qualifying her as one of such institutions to be invited.

She said: “The relationship with NAICOM has definitely been buoyed by the supportive roles and favourable disposition of the new team of NAICOM, under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Sunday Thomas as Commissioner for Insurance.

“In a positive response to brokers on the COVID-19 relief, the Commission granted administrative palliative to brokers concerning the extension of dates for submission of their returns to the Commission in view of the COVID-19 challenges.”

Stating that brokers were ready to square up to future challenges, she said: “It is definitely not lost on the Council and its members that the business world as well as insurance business and profession would never be the same again, little thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, the Council under the present leadership is more than prepared to help members navigate any foreseeable or unforeseeable challenges by improving their knowledge power.’’