The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), on Thursday, said it would soon release guidelines on the insurance of government assets to ensure appropriate and adequate insurance cover for government assets.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, said this while delivering a paper at the second edition of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) 2022 Business Outlook Seminar, held in Lagos.

Thomas, represented by NAICOM deputy commissioner, Technical, Mr Sabiu Abubaka, said that the guidelines, which would soon be released, ensure that assets of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and MDAs would be fully covered.

He explained that the commission had collaborated with the Ministry of Finance, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Head of Service to come up with the guidelines.

He said that the guidelines would ensure that all MDAs comply with the requirements in the guidelines, while failure to comply would attract sanctions.

“It is very worrisome to the commission that most assets and liabilities of government are never adequately and appropriately insured.

“This further accentuates the need for urgent measures to be put in place to ensure that government gets value for money in the purchase of insurance by MDAs,” he said.

On International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS17), Thomas said the commission was determined on the proposed implementation of date as January 2023.

According to him, the commission has set up sub-working groups to facilitate the migration.

The commissioner urged board members of each insurance firm to get prepared for the IFRS 17 implementation, as the deadline for migration was already close.

In his address, CIIN’s President, Mr Edwin Igbiti, said that the seminar was organised for key players in the insurance industry and other finance sub-sector to review the business environment in the country.

Igbiti explained that the review was for the performance of the industry in the immediate past year and the way forward for the new year.