By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— The Federal High Court in Abuja has slated September 21 to hear a petition seeking to formally wind up NICON Insurance Limited following the cancellation of its operating licence.
Justice Chigozie Onah, while fixing the matter for hearing, ordered that assets, properties, investments, bank accounts, books, records, documents, and other proprietary interests of the company “be preserved and protected from any disposition, dissipation, alienation, encumbrance or dealing inconsistent with the statutory functions of the Receiver/Provisional Liquidator and the interests of policyholders, creditors and other stakeholders, pending the hearing and determination of the petition.”
The petition, marked FHC/ABJ/PET/18/2026 (for the Winding-Up of NICON INSURANCE LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION)), was brought before the court by the Receiver/Liquidator of NICON Insurance Limited, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN.
The court granted leave for the petition to be listed, heard and determined within the period of its ongoing annual vacation.
Upon the order, the Receiver/Liquidator had since placed public notices in national dailies informing stakeholders, banks, financial institutions, regulatory bodies and the general public about the ongoing NICON Insurance Limited (in-Liquidation) proceedings.
The winding-up petition, filed on August 12, is predicated on the invalidation of NICON’s insurance licence by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on August 3, 2026.
According to the petition, NICON failed, refused or was unable to recapitalise in accordance with the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, 2025, and the minimum capital requirements prescribed by NAICOM.
Ume, SAN, who was appointed Receiver/Provisional Liquidator by NAICOM on August 4, told the court that the cancellation of the licence had removed the regulatory basis for NICON to continue operating as an insurance company.
He argued that the winding-up was not founded merely on an allegation of insolvency but on the statutory regime governing an insurance company whose licence had been cancelled.
The petition stated that NICON has hundreds of thousands of policyholders, while its creditors include banks, vendors and contractors with liabilities running into hundreds of billions of naira.
Ume, SAN, therefore, urged the court to place the company’s affairs under the statutory winding-up machinery to ensure that its assets are collected, realised, administered and distributed according to the applicable legal priorities.
He is also asking the court to confirm his appointment as liquidator and to order NICON’s directors, officers and agents to surrender the company’s books, records, assets, statements of affairs and other information required by law.
The petitioner further wants the court to direct that statutory priorities applicable to failed insurance operators under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act be observed in settling and distributing the company’s estate.
The petition relies on Sections 110 and 111 of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, 2025, as well as relevant provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020.
Among the grounds presented to the court, Ume, SAN, argued that NICON’s licence cancellation constituted the cessation of a condition precedent to its continued operation as an insurer.
He also invoked the court’s power to wind up a company where it considers it “just and equitable” to do so, citing the regulatory intervention, cancellation of the licence, receivership and the need for an orderly administration of the company’s estate.
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