Serving Two Masters : Corporate Governance Regulation in the Nigerian Insurance Industry

Through its regulatory agencies, the government continues to seek to deepen corporate governance practice in Nigeria as an enabler for economic growth and facilitating much-needed foreign investment. The growth of corporate governance in Nigeria has often been in reaction to various adverse occurrences in the economy, and also following the cues from international development, this has led to a multiplicity of corporate governance codes. Operators in the insurance industry are currently subjected to both the National Code of Corporate Governance (2018), as are indeed all companies in the public and private sectors, and the National Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM) Corporate Governance Guidelines for Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Nigeria. This paper sort to analyze both corporate governance codes to determine if there are areas of conflict or potential confusion for operators in the insurance industry. The paper found that the structure of NCCG 2018 has meant that various industry regulators have a critical role in its enforcement; the NAICOM guidelines also make strenuous efforts to avoid conflict by asking all insurance companies to comply with NCCG 2018 and read the provisions of the two codes together