BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR-The National Insurance Commission, ( NAICOM) on Thursday said N4 billion unfinished property is for Naicom Academy and office accommodation.
The Commission said this while responding to media reports that the proposed property did not go through the laid down procurement procedures as set out in the Public Procurement Act.
According to statement signed by Head of Corporate Communications & Market Development, Mr. AbdulRasaq Salami, and made available to BusinessToday Online, that all documents relating to the property clearly state that the property was in an unfinished state.
The statement thus reads: “The attention of Management of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM has been
drawn to the above captioned publication in the Vanguard Newspaper of August
29, 2022 in which the Commission was among other things alleged to have deceived
President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and the Federal Executive Council into approving the purchase of a new office building in Abuja.
It was also stated in the publication that the Commission said it was buying a “ready
to use magnificent office complex” rather than an uncompleted building.
“While the Commission does not intend to join issues with the media, it has become
imperative that the general public be availed with the facts as they are.
It is on this premise that the Commission state as follows:
According to the management of the Commission through the Honourable Minister of finance, Budget and National Planning presented to the Federal Executive Council
presided over by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR 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.
The commission assured that all documents relating to the property clearly state that the property was in an unfinished state.
The statement added that 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.
It added that ” adequate due diligence was conducted on the property for acquisition and all relevant approvals were secured by the Commission.
“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.
“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.
The statement further said that the 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.
