A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted an order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from re-capitalising and consolidating the insurance sector.
Justice Anwuli Chikere granted the order, while ruling on a motion ex-parte jointly filed by the Nigeria Re-Insurance Corporation and NICON Insurance.
Specifically, the order bars the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Finance from implementing the report and recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Insurance Capitalisation.
The applicants said the committee had concluded the review and submitted its report to the Federal Government.
They contended that the Minister of Finance had at a public forum said that the report of the committee would be implemented to the letter.
A copy of the speech by the minister was attached to the application.
Arguing the motion, counsel to the applicants, Mr. Jude Agboje, urged the court to restrain the defendants from implementing the report because his clients would be adversely affected by it.
He contended that the report recommended a cancellation of the privatisation of NICON and Nigeria Re carried out by the Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Agboje said his clients had a pending suit challenging the steps taken by the government in the recapitalisation and consolidation of the sector.
He argued that Section 9 (4) of the Insurance Act exclusively empowered the National Insurance Commission to carry out such a review.
Agboje added that the steps taken so far by the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Finance Minister were unconstitutional, null and void.
He said, “If the defendants are not restrained in the interim, the applicants will suffer great loss in their investments running into billions of naira.
“The address by the minister has started wreaking havoc on the business of the applicants.”
Chikere granted the order stopping the defendants, in the interim, from re- certifying the licences given to the applicants, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
She also ordered that the report of the committee should not be implemented until the substantive suit had been determined.
She ordered service of the order and a hearing notice for the substantive suit on the defendant within three days and adjourned the suit to October 16.
By Sunday Ojeme and Tobi Soniyi, Abuja
The Punch
Friday, October 5, 2007
