*Appoints principal officers without NAICOM approval
WorldStage– Prestige Assurance Plc disregarded Principle 28 of Nigeria’s corporate governance code, and listed three instead of the five violations for which it paid more than N11 million in 2025.
The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria’s Corporate Governance Code 2018 has a disclosure clause in its Principle 28.
Reporting companies must provide “a list of all the fines and penalties (including date, amount, and subject matter) imposed on the Company by regulators at the end of the reporting period.”
Prestige Assurance, with over 70 years in the industry, however, muddled up its response to the code.
“Yes,” the company admitted it breached some regulations.
“Penalties were paid include; To NAICOM for late response to some enquiry on claims related matter; For appointment of principal officers without prior approval of NAICOM; To NGX for late filling of Audited Financial Statements 2024.”
But Prestige Assurance refused to disclose the amounts it paid to NAICOM and the NGX, against the principle’s demands. It also under-stated the violations.
A compilation of corporate violations and sanctions, X-Compliance, which the NGX published in February revealed more than the company disclosed.
Prestige Assurance filed its 2024 audited financial statement eight months late, for which it paid N5.1 million. Its Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 unaudited financial statements also came more than two months late. For both, the NGX penalized the insurer N7 million.
Companies under-disclosing their non-compliance in corporate governance reports is a growing trend.
The regulators have yet to scrutinize the consistency of the report contents as much as they do the application of the NCCG code and others.
