The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has said that the new Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 signed into law by the President was not targeting any group of Church but to ensure compliance to global best practices in the corporate world.
Garba Abubakar, the registrar-general of the CAC, gave the clarification during an interactive section with BusinessDay Media officials, while emphasising that the commission would exercise its powers judiciously.
There have been growing concerns by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that the new CAMA is targeting the church, but the Registrar-General said: “CAC won’t arbitrarily exercise its powers and suspend a trustee, but there has to be a petition. Also, our actions are still subject to judicial review.”
The Christian Association of Nigeria it would be recalled had earlier raised concern with the section 839 (1) and (2) of the Act observing that it could be government’s strategy to bring the church under its control.
According to CAN’s Chairman, Supo Ayokunle: “We thought it was all over until we heard of the CAMA that was assented to by the President, making the rejected bill a law.
“The satanic section of the controversial and ungodly law is Section 839 (1) and (2) which empowers the commission to suspend trustees of an association (in this case, the church) and appoint interim managers to manage the affairs of the association for some given reasons.”
In response to CAN’s concern, the Registrar-General said some aspects of the new law were borrowed from the United Kingdom’s Charities Act which is in line with global best practices, while also insisting that if a group is incorporated by law, they should also be subject to the checks and balances that comes with it.
“Our concern is the governance structure and not the religious institution. Our power is not absolute, it can be challenged in Court,” he insisted.
He further said that the power of the commission was not absolute in the provision of suspending a trustee in church, while clarifying that fair hearing would also be given to the party. Also, while the party is not satisfied with the investigations, there is also a room to take a legal action in court.
“Under the Part C business registration segment, once you agree to register an incorporated entity whether Church or non-governmental organisation, you must abide by the checks and balances that the law provides,” he said.
Garba explained further that the new CAMA Act is in compliance with Open Government Partnership, OGP signed by President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2016 anti-corruption summit in London, United Kingdom which commits to transparency in business in line with globally acceptable norms and practices.
“There are some of the issues the new CAMA highlighted such as the issue of beneficial ownership register which is in compliance with global anti-corruption initiative and is domiciled in Nigeria in the Attorney General of the Federations and Minister of Justices office. This initiative which is also in compliance to Open Government Partnership commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari would also get the support of the World Bank in having a beneficial ownership register that fosters transparency,” he added.
He urged everyone to read the document and get guidance from his lawyers, insisting that there are lots of positives from the new CAMA Act which will drive ease of doing business and consolidate Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest economy in line with global best practices.
