INSURANCE brokers in the country are anxiously awaiting their windfall which is to come by way of the payment of long standing commissions on businesses transacted with NICON Insurance Plc.

Champion Insurance reliably gathered at the weekend that the brokers may be paid as much as N170 million as outstanding commission by NICON.

It would be recalled that the shareholders of NICON led by Global Fleets which stand as the core investor had recently injected fresh funds to the tune of N17 billion into NICON. The successful injection of the funds paved the way for the federal government’s withdrawal of the interim management which it put in plavce at the height of the face off between it and Global Fleet as personified by Barr. Jimoh Ibrahim.

The Federal government has requested among other things then, the payment of all outstanding claims including pensions and broker commission.

A source close to NICON had confided in champion insurance that the Mrs. Catherine Opkaleke led NICON has concluded its reconciliation of brokersd’ accounts with the view to ascertain the authenticity of the bills slammed on it by brokers.

Insurance brokers have since the inception of the regime of the new core investor in NICON in 2005 mounted a strong protest to demand the payment of the back log of commissions due to them. Although the bulk of the outstanding commissions were incurred prior to the privatisation of the giant insurance house, some interest group in NICON had queried the brokers’ claims wondering why the brokers would want to claim commission on government businesses which were ceded to a government owned company. Those who held this line of argument had insisted that the businesses went to NICON as right and thus demands no intervention by middlemen.

But the brokers appeared to have weathered the storm following series of meeting with the board and management of NICON during which they marshaled enough evidence on why they must be paid for jobs done.

The last in the series of such meetings was held during the Nigerian council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Abuja conference.

Champion Insurance gathered that one of the board members of NICON and former commissioner for insurance Chief Dipo Bailey had assured brokers on the resolve to settle their bills declaring that the money was ready for disbursement.