UNBAN CO-INSURANCE WITH TAKAFUL: MURIC TELLS NAICOM

7^th October, 2025

PRESS RELEASE:

UNBAN CO-INSURANCE WITH TAKAFUL: MURIC TELLS NAICOM

An appeal has gone to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to withdraw its recent circular which prohibited conventional insurance companies from co-insuring businesses with Islamic insurance companies.

The appeal was made by a faith-based human rights advocacy group, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC). In a statement circulated to pressmen on Tuesday, 7^th October, 2025, the group accused NAICOM of religious discrimination, insurance apartheid, abridgement of Allah-given fundamental human rights of Nigerian Muslims and neo-imperialist cum Islamophobic exclusivism.

The statement was signed by the organisation’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

It reads:

“The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) recently issued a circular which prohibited conventional insurance companies from co-insuring businesses with Islamic insurance companies.

“The circular ref: NAICOM/I&R/CIR/69/2025 under the title ‘Prohibition of Coinsurance Arrangements Between Takaful Companies and Conventional Insurance Companies’ was dated 19^th August, 2025.

“This circular is archaic, myopic and parochial. It aims at the heart of the businesses of Nigerian Muslims, particularly Islamic insurance (takaful) companies. It also seeks to divide Nigerians against themselves while it threatens religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

“It seeks to deprive millions of Nigerian Muslims from having access to insurance policies. It is Islamophobic. It is also an attempt to open the doors of Nigerian businesses to religious apartheid, exclusivism and gymnastic religiousity as opposed to free enterprise without any form of discrimination either on grounds of religion, ethnicity or gender.

“As a multi-religious country where the policies of institutions must reflect the diversity of the cultures of the people, this circular breaches Section 14(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which compels inclusivity as it directs agencies like NAICOM, inter alia, that the:

‘…Conduct of the affairs of the Government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation.’

“To that extent, therefore, NAICOM’s circular prohibiting conventional insurance companies from co-insuring businesses with Islamic insurance companies is illegal, unlawful, illegitimate and unconstitutional.

“NAICOM has fired the first salvo to start a religious war on the insurance battlefield. But can this be sustained? What if Nigerian Muslims respond in like manner? NAICOM has forgotten that Islamic insurance groups as an institution represent Nigerian Muslims in the economic sector.

“Professionals in the insurance field cannot deny the fact that all conventional insurance companies have Muslim customers. NAICOM may have inadvertently tickled the consciousness of Muslims for self-determination in the area of insurance.

“This is capable of generating an unhealthy atmosphere whereby Muslim customers begin to withdraw from non-Islamic (conventional) insurance companies due to this unhealthy and tactless development.

“This circular is therefore a product of short-sightedness and acrobatic religiousity. It is long in redtapism but short in strategic planning. This policy is anti-Islam and malicious. It also suffers from desertification of emotional intelligence.

“In conclusion, NAICOM’s circular smirks of religious discrimination, insurance apartheid, abridgement of Allah-given fundamental human rights of Nigerian Muslims and neo-imperialist cum Islamophobic exclusivism. Therefore, MURIC demands immediate and unconditional withdrawal of this offensive, provocative and illegal circular.”

#NAICOM

#WithdrawReligiousApartheidCircular

#UnbanCoinsuranceTakaful

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Founder/Executive Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).