The controversy surrounding the move by the management of the National Insurance Commission to buy an uncompleted building in Abuja at the cost of N4 billion has taken a new style, as the Federal Government has ordered the stoping of the purchase until further notice.
Apart from the stop, the Minister of Finance, whose ministry supervises the agency, has also raised a panel to probe the entire process relating to the purchase of the uncompleted building, which was presented by the management of the commission to the Federal Executive Council as a “Suitable Property for the dual purpose/use for the NAICOM Academy and New Office accommodation” for approval.
The probe panel is headed by the Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry and the committee is expected to unravel if due process was indeed followed by the management in wanting to buy the uncompleted structure and if the amount quoted is commensurate with the properties.
The suspension of the purchase followed some controversial decisions taken by the management in the third week of August to beat the August 25 2022 deadline for the withdrawal of the cash from the account of the commission domiciled in the Central Bank, which did not go down well with the board and staff of the agency.
While the management insisted on withdrawing the cash, the board acting on the advice of the Director of Finance and Administration, DFA, opposed the withdrawal on the grounds that there was no cash backing for the Federal Executive Council’s approval and that the building in question was not commensurate with the whooping N4 billion.
The staff also argued that withdrawing such amount at this time of the year, could stall their salary and other payments, threatening to go on strike if the fund was taken out at this time.
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