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Nigeria: Nicon - FG to Sign Agreement With Jimoh Ibrahim, Monday
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Vanguard (Lagos)
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
BARRING any last minute change, the Federal Government is scheduled to formally endorse the terms of agreement on the handing over of the ownership of NICON Insurance to Mr Jimoh Ibrahim before a Federal high court sitting in Abuja by next Monday.
The fixing of the date yesterday by the trial high court judge, Justice Anwuri Chikere for the endorsement followed a report by both parties contesting ownership of the insurance giant that they had reached a fresh amicable settlement on the issue.
The Federation Attorney-General, the Finance Minister and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) who are all parties in the case are to formally adopt the terms of agreement already filed before the court on May 19.
It would be recalled that all the parties had been enmeshed in a battle of wits after the initial agreement collapsed. The said out of court settlement earlier arrived at by the parties was discarded at the last minute.
By the fresh agreement, the government is to return Mr Jimoh Ibrahim as core investor in both NICON Insurance Plc and Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation. This followed a settlement by both parties which was filed at the Federal High Court Abuja by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN).
The Federal Government and Ibrahim signed the agreement following a meeting in the office of the Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman.
The terms of settlement was signed on behalf of the Federal Government by the Attorney-General of the federation and Minister of Justice, the Finance Minister and the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises, Mrs Irene Chigbue and Jimoh Ibrahim's lawyers, in Abuja on Thursday, May 8.
According to a clause of the settlement, contained in a four-page document signed by all parties to the agreement filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja on Friday, the terms of settlement "are irrevocably binding on all parties and their privies, assigns, servants and agents."
Informed sources said the agreement followed an insistence by President Umaru Yar'Adua that matter of ownership and recapitalisation of the two companies were not in contention and that the companies should, therefore, be returned to the core investor.
The two parties, therefore, entered into negotiation and resolved that the companies be recapitalised, their boards and management be reconstituted and thereafter returned to Ibrahim, upon which he would withdraw his court cases against the Federal Government on the issue.
Part of the terms of the 11-point settlement is also that the process of the company reconstituting its boards will be openly advertised and that its Managing Directors and two executive directors for the
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companies will be appointed in line with the Insurance Act, meaning that the Managing Director will be an insurance certified person, while the joint shareholders will appoint a "Nigerian of proven integrity" as chairman.
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