Update on Court Case between Annuity Insurance Company & NAICOM
Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ruled that the revocation of the certificate of registration of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) is null and void and also awarded cost of action of the suit in favour of the Plaintiffs against the Defendants.
Recall our post on “Annuity Retirees in Limbo after NAICOM closes Two Insurance Companies HERE” in which we said that the shareholders of both Niger Insurance and Standard Alliance, have gone to court to challenge NAICOM’s decision to revoke their operational licenses.
We now have an update on the court case initiated by Standard Alliance, the judgement on the case was delivered on July 7 in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/1585/2022 filed by Chief Dickson Odoko, Elder Donatus Mrowhobor Uba, and Standard Alliance Investments Limited (Suing for themselves and on behalf of the shareholders of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc) against NAICOM, Kehinde Aina, (NAICOM-Appointed Receiver/Liquidator of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc), the Minister of Finance, and Mr. Awodiya Omotayo.
Justice Aluko held that the decision of NAICOM to revoke the certificate of registration of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc did not follow due process of law and are therefore liable to be struck down and set aside.
The court held that, coming from the above, as the 1st and 3rd Defendants (NAICOM and Finance Minister) failed to comply with the mandatory provisions in sections 7(4), (5), (6) and (7) and 8(3) of the Insurance Act, their decision to cancel certificate of registration of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc and the appointment of the 2nd Defendant as receiver/liquidator of Standard Alliance remain null and void in the eye of the law.
The plaintiffs in their originating summons dated August 23, 2022, had sought the court’s interpretation of the relevant provisions of Sections 7 and 8 of the Insurance Act, 2003 and section 6 (6) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. The plaintiffs asked the court to declare that “the purported notice of cancellation of registration of Standard Alliance Plc issued by the first defendant dated June 21, 2022, was a nullity abinitio.
Justice Aluko stated that the failure of NAICOM to comply with the provisions of the law was “fatal and rendered the process leading to the cancellation of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc’s certificate of registration and the appointment of a receiver null and void. To this end, I resolve questions 1 to 5 in the negative, all in favour of the plaintiffs against the 1st to 3rd defendants. The declarations in reliefs A, B, C and D are hereby made. The orders prayed for in reliefs E, F and G are hereby granted, cost of this action in the sum of N200,000 is awarded in favour of the plaintiffs against the 1st to 3rd defendants.”
This is a developing and important case and we shall continue to provide updates accordingly.
A brief history of what happed before the revocation of Standard Alliance Insurance licence by NAICOM
NAICOM on 28 March 2022 issued a notice of its intention to revoke the certificate of registration of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc. Upon receiving the notice, Standard Alliance lodged an appeal with the Minister of Finance (3rd Defendant), highlighting its readiness to address all the grounds raised by NAICOM in the notice of intention to cancel its certificate.
Without receiving any notification of decision on its appeal, Standard Alliance received notice of cancellation of its certificate of registration and NAICOM proceeded to appoint a Receiver/Liquidator for Standard Alliance Insurance Plc without regard to Standard Alliance appeal on the issue.
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