Court stops Reps from summoning insurance CEOs
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Federal High Court in Abuja has barred the House of Representatives from compelling the chief executives of 17 insurance firms to appear before its Committee on Capital Market and Institutions.
Justice Emeka Nwite, in a ruling delivered on Monday, issued an interlocutory order restraining the Speaker of the House, the committee, and two of its members – Kwamoti Laori and Bob Solomon – from enforcing the summons earlier served on the companies.
The affected insurers, represented by Prof Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), include Regency Alliance Plc, Coronation Insurance Plc, Linkage Assurance Plc, Guinea Insurance Plc, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc, LASACO Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Alico Insurance Plc, AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, NEM Insurance Plc, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, International Energy Insurance Plc, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc, and Staco Insurance Plc.
Lawmakers had summoned the 17 insurance companies for a scheduled hearing for July 21, 2025, in connection with alleged non-remittance of about N98.4bn to the Federal Government, and directed them to submit operational records.
But the plaintiffs, through their lawyer Osipitan, argued that their operations already fall under the supervision of statutory regulators such as the National Insurance Commission, the Corporate Affairs Commission, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
They maintained that the National Assembly lacks constitutional authority to probe their corporate records or enforce alleged debts, stressing that such actions amount to usurping executive functions.
In a supporting affidavit, an NIA Manager, Toyin Victoria Akioya, told the court that the committee’s July 3, 2025, summons was designed to establish and enforce liabilities allegedly owed by the companies. Justice Nwite, in his ruling, held that the defendants failed to file any response to the insurers’ motion despite being given an opportunity to do so.
He held that a party that neglects to respond cannot later claim denial of fair hearing. Consequently, the court restrained the House and its committee from summoning the insurers’ CEOs to appear at the July 21 hearing or any subsequent sitting pending the determination of the suit.
The case was adjourned to September 9, 2025, for the hearing of the substantive case.
