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NCDMB Espouses Benefits of Insurance Industry Collaboration
The Nigeria Content Development Monitoring Board, NCDMB, has craved the understanding and support of the insurance sector to strengthen the Boards desire towards the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act, NOGICD, in the sector.
Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary, ES, of the Board, who made the call at the 2023 Oriental News Nigeria conference in Lagos, with the theme, “Building Local Content Synergy between the Oil and Gas and the Insurance Sector in Nigeria” said over the years, the Board has taken deliberate steps to forge collaboration with various critical stakeholders to support the attainment of its strategic goals and mandate.
Wabote, who was represented by Mr. Daziba Patrick Obah. Director, Corporate Services of NCDMB, said that stakeholders’ engagement and collaboration is one of the key enablers to the Board’s ten-year strategic road map designed to achieve 70 per cent Nigerian content performance by the year 2027.
This he said is the reason for various engagement and collaboration between NCDMB and several MDAs, including the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM which crystalized in the joint issuance of the Insurance Guideline in 2022 to support the implementation of the insurance requirements contained in Sections 49 and 50 of the NOGICD Act 2010.
The main benefit of the guidelines according to Wabote, is the creation of a database of all insurance programs procured by the operators, project promoters, alliance partners, and Nigerian indigenous companies, to enable the Board monitor utilization of in-country insurance capacity thereby enhancing in-country value retention.
“It is worthy to emphasize that collaboration between government agencies is crucial for effective public service delivery through alignments of areas of strength, better decision-making, sharing of resources, optimization of opportunities and better understanding of issues and challenges with policy implementation.
“This ultimately, create huge benefits for both country and citizens, as it enables collaborating agencies to understand and respond to the needs and expectations of Nigerians. In NCDMB, we recognize the importance of collaboration and synergy amongst government organizations and other stakeholders to the fulfilment of our statutory mandate.
The Executive Secretary described the theme of the conference as apt and timely as it underscores the imperative of fostering the much-needed collaboration and synergy amongst MDAs and critical stakeholders; in this case between two critical regulators in the Oil and Gas Industry and the Insurance Industry.
“There is no doubt that Nigeria has not extracted sufficient value across the Nigerian oil and gas industry value chain since the commencement of hydrocarbon mining in Nigeria. It is this very low indigenous participation in the hydrocarbon value-chain in Nigeria that necessitated the enactment of the NOGICD Act in 2010 with the sole aim of deepening local content in the nations’ economy.
“Similarly, the performance of the insurance sector, particularly in relation to oil and gas businesses, is also sub-optimal due to various reasons.” Wabote observed.
Speaking further he said that building synergy between these two critical sectors of our economy holds huge potentials for growth and development of the Nigerian economy, adding, “The summit, therefore, presents a great opportunity for key stakeholders to brainstorm on the benefits and challenges impeding optimal performance in these two critical sectors.
“Furthermore, this summit offers us a strong veritable platform for the Insurance Industry, the Oil and Gas Industries, and other stakeholders to articulate processes, procedures, and practices to forge sustainable collaboration in optimizing opportunities and harnessing benefits for themselves as Nigerians.”
Dwelling more on the legislation, he said that, “In addition to various provisions of the NOGIC Act and the Insurance Act, Sections 49 and 50 of the NOGICD Act specifically provide concrete basis for NCDMB and NAICOM to work together to extract maximal value from both the Insurance and the Oil and Gas Industry for the Nigerian economy.
The Section 49(1) states: “All operators, project promoters, alliance partners and Nigerian indigenous companies engaged in any form of business, operations or contract in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, shall insure all insurable risks related to its oil and gas business, operations or contracts with an insurance company, through an insurance broker registered in Nigeria under the provisions of the Insurance Act as amended”
Also, Section 49(2) states: Each operator in subsection (1) of this section shall submit to the Board, a list of all insurance companies and insurance brokers through which insurance covers were obtained in the past six months, the class of insurance cover obtained, and the expenditures made by the operator while Section 50 states, No insurance risk in the Nigerian oil and gas industry shall be placed offshore without the written approval of the National Insurance Commission which shall ensure that Nigerian local capacity has been fully exhausted.”
Wabote further noted that Section 49 makes it mandatory for operators, project promoters and other entities in the oil and gas industry to obtain insurance coverage for all insurable risks with insurance companies and brokers that are registered in Nigeria in line with the Insurance Act (as amended).
“It is important to note that Section 50 forbids entities in the oil and gas industry from offshore placement of any insurable risks except with the written approval of NAICOM. The essence of these two provisions of the NOGIC Act is to ensure full utilization of available in-country capacity in the insurance sector by oil and gas industry players. The goal ultimately is to promote more capital retention in country and to boost the capacity of Nigerian insurance companies and brokers to support the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
“To give life to these sections of the NOGIC Act, NCDMB and NAICOM set up a Technical Committee which developed the structures and strategies to promote and ease interface between both regulatory institutions.
“One of the tools to ease the interface between the two bodies involved the development of the NOGIC JQS Statutory Reporting Module which makes submission of insurance performance report by oil and gas companies to NCDMB automatically accessible to NAICOM for prompt review and feedback to NCDMB.
“The benefit of this virtual interface is to reduce the turnaround time and to promote the ease of doing business. NCDMB and NAICOM are still fine-tuning the Application Programming Interface to enhance its functionality and efficiency.” he said.
Speaking on seeming, challenges, the ES, said, “Despite the commitment of both agencies to optimize the benefit of the NOGICD Act and the Insurance Act, there are still some obstacles in the way of full implementation.
“One of the challenges of utilizing Nigerian loss adjusters or brokerage firms is the low capital base of the insurance industry. Closely related to it is the capacity of local insurance firms to underwrite the huge loss associated with a typical upstream petroleum project.”
He said, however that in response, NAICOM has made remarkable efforts to mitigate some of these limitations, but a lot still needs to be done.
He added that in the spirit of collaboration, NCDMB is poised to work with NAICOM as a credible partner every inch of the way to get around some of these obstacles particularly within the boundaries of our statutory mandate.
On the way forward he said the Board will not only look at the challenges of building sustainable synergies but will also come up with feasible proposals to encourage collaboration to surmount impediments.
“To address the issue of low capital base of the industry, for example, we call on all stakeholders to support NAICOM to push for an increase in the minimum capital base of insurance companies.
“Secondly, NAICOM and other stakeholders need to also work assiduously to forge and promote mergers of insurance companies to enhance their efficiencies and improve their market share as part of their collective benefits.
“I am aware that some steps have been taken in this direction, but these efforts need to crystallize into reality.” he added.
Xora Finance has announced it will no longer consider job applicants from Nigeria.
Xora Finance is a digital bank founded by Joren Lundgren, in February 2026 and allows users to deposit and earn interest on their XRP cryptocurrency.
Lundgren, founder, in an announcement on X (formerly Twitter), cited an ongoing pattern of misconduct, such as dishonesty and theft, from previous Nigerian hires as the reason for the decision.
This sudden blanket ban came just days after the company’s official career page was aggressively recruiting remote workers for marketing and content roles.
The announcement generated heavy backlash online, with many people upset that a blanket rule punishes honest job seekers.
Some lawyers have said that victims of Ponzi schemes have legal remedies, although recovering lost funds and prosecuting perpetrators remain major challenges.
A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new participants rather than from actual profits.
Operators lure victims by promising high returns with little to no risk.
The scheme inevitably collapses when the flow of new investors slows down.
Some lawyers who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) separate interviews with on Sunday, said that victims could pursue civil actions to recover their money.
Mr Chibuikem Opara, a lawyer at Justification Chambers, Ikeja,said many Nigerians continued to fall victim to Ponzi schemes in spite of repeated warnings.
Opara said it was wrong to attribute participation in Ponzi schemes to a lack of investment opportunities, noting that promoters often exploit investors’ greed through promises of unrealistic returns.
“What you cannot take away is the fact that many Nigerians have fallen and continue to fall victim to these schemes every time,” he said.
According to him, victims may individually or collectively institute civil actions against the beneficiary company for breach of contract or refund arising from failure of consideration.
Opara said victims could also unite to seek an order from the Federal High Court to wind up the beneficiary company.
He, however, noted that such efforts might yield little benefit if perpetrators had already siphoned the funds and left behind an empty shell.
The lawyer said available remedies largely depended on the actions of relevant authorities, adding that recipient accounts could be frozen to facilitate fund recovery and support winding-up proceedings.
Opara said regulators and law enforcement agencies often became aware of Ponzi schemes only after substantial losses had occurred.
According to him, victims frequently failed to report suspicious schemes early enough to enable timely intervention.
He added that funds are sometimes moved outside the country before authorities become aware of the fraud.
Opara also cited inadequate information and the deceptive nature of the schemes as major obstacles to investigation and prosecution.
“Most times, everything about the schemes is made to appear elusive, just like the profits promised to victims,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Vincent Aminu of A.F. Aminu and Co. advised that victims of investment scams should report such cases to appropriate law enforcement agencies on time.
Aminu said victims could petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or file reports with the police.
He said that after investigation, prosecutors could bring charges against suspects under relevant fraud-related laws, including provisions of the Criminal Code and the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.
Beyond criminal prosecution, Aminu said .victims could pursue civil actions to recover their money
According to him, such actions may be based on breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or fraudulent misrepresentation, depending on the circumstances.
He added that victims could petition the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which could investigate illegal operators, shut down unauthorised platforms, and freeze assets.
He identified the anonymity of online fraudsters as one of the biggest challenges confronting investigators.
According to him, many operators concealed their identities through fake digital profiles and technologies that made tracking them difficult.
Aminu also noted that victims who delayed taking legal action risked losing opportunities for redress.
He added that prolonged court proceedings often delayed justice for victims.
“Many fraud-related cases take years before the court reaches a verdict, thereby delaying justice for victims,” he said.
Also, Mr Chris Ayiyi of Ayiyi Chambers, Apapa, described Ponzi schemes as a gamble that benefited early participants at the expense of later investors.
Ayiyi said some early entrants received returns on their investments, thereby encouraging others to join the schemes.
He said the schemes eventually collapsed, leaving late investors to bear the losses
The lawyer called for a complete ban on Ponzi schemes or sustained public enlightenment campaigns against them.
He urged the National Assembly to enact laws that would strengthen regulation and provide greater protection for investors.
According to him, stronger legal safeguards are necessary in a country operating a capital-based economy.
PalmPay Group (“PalmPay”), a multinational fintech company providing digital financial services across high-growth emerging markets, is pleased to appoint Samuel Oluyemi as Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of its Nigeria practice, effective immediately.
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for PalmPay as it looks to reach more underserved communities and continuously strengthen the reliability and security of its services. It also comes as Nigeria’s broader financial services sector continues to modernize, bring millions more Nigerians into the formal financial system, and strengthen the cybersecurity and fraud-prevention standards that underpin public confidence in digital payments.
As COO of PalmPay Nigeria, Mr. Oluyemi will oversee PalmPay’s Nigerian operations — where the company provides a full suite of digital financial services to individuals and businesses — and communicate with regulators to ensure the company’s growth happens harmoniously with the country’s financial, digital, and social inclusion goals.
Mr. Oluyemi brings more than two decades of experience at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (“NIBSS”). During his tenure as the Business Development Lead, he championed the development of key national payment services — including the Digital Validation of Nigerian International Passport (e-Passport Validation), Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (“e-DMMS”), and the Electronic Pensions Contribution Collection System (“EPCCOS”) — and played a pivotal role in introducing and driving early adoption of NIBSS Instant Payment (“NIP”), Nigeria’s first online, real-time, inter-bank transfer system in 2011 and its subsequent extension to the Other Financial Institutions (“OFI”) segment of the Nigeria Payments System.
He holds an MSc in Monetary Economics from the University of Ibadan with extensive local and international professional training.
“Samuel joins PalmPay at an important stage in our journey to strengthen the foundations that will support our long-term goal of driving financial inclusion,” said Chika Nwosu, Managing Director of PalmPay Nigeria. “His extensive experience makes him well positioned to help us scale sustainably while maintaining the operational discipline, governance and customer-first culture that define PalmPay.”
“PalmPay has established itself as one of the most impactful fintech companies in emerging markets by making financial services more accessible and affordable for millions of people,” said Mr. Oluyemi.
“I am excited to join the company and look forward to working alongside an exceptional team to strengthen operational excellence and support PalmPay’s vision of building a leading digital financial services platform. Together, we will continue delivering secure, reliable, and customer-focused financial solutions while contributing to the continued evolution of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.”
As Nigeria’s digital financial services sector continues to mature, this appointment reflects a broader commitment guiding PalmPay across all markets it serves: building financial services that are secure, reliable, and effective enough to earn a permanent place in people’s everyday lives.
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