New Telegraph

CAMA: Controversy trails origin of legislation

•Enang: It was private bill in 8th Assembly, executive bill, 9th Assembly

•Says law targets corruption, terrorism financing

 

 

More controversy trailed the recent amendments to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) over the weekend, as some stakeholders explored the origin of the bill which was passed by the 9th National Assembly and subsequently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

This came just as the Federal Government reassured religious groups in Nigeria of its sincerity of purpose on the new version of the law, insisting that the legislation was in the overall national interest and not an attempt to interfere in the affairs of religious bodies.

 

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Sen Ita Enang, had on Tuesday, dismissed the uproar that greeted the signing of the law and alleged that it was orchestrated by some persons from the opposition camp to embarrass President Buhari by portraying his government as being behind an unpopular and provocative legislation.

 

Enang, who put up this defence while receiving a delegation from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which has been one of its most vocal critics, exonerated the Presidency from the controversial provisions contained in the law, stressing that they emanated from a private member bill in the National Assembly.

 

However, Sunday Telegraph investigations revealedOnwuka Nzeshi and Philip Nyam More controversy trailed the recent amendments to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) over the weekend, as some stakeholders explored the origin of the bill which was passed by the 9th National Assembly and subsequently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

This came just as the Federal Government reassured religious groups in Nigeria of its sincerity of purpose on the new version of the law, insisting that the legislation was in the overall national interest and not an attempt to interfere in the affairs of religious bodies.

 

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Sen Ita Enang, had on Tuesday, dismissed the uproar that greeted the signing of the law and alleged that it was orchestrated by some persons from the opposition camp to embarrass President Buhari by portraying his government as being behind an unpopular and provocative legislation.

 

Enang, who put up this defence while receiving a delegation from the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which has been one of its most vocal critics, exonerated the Presidency from the controversial provisions contained in the law, stressing that they emanated from a private member bill in the National Assembly.

 

However, Sunday Telegraph investigations revealed    that the CAMA Amendment Bill which was recently assented to by Buhari was an executive bill, and not a private member bill as claimed by the presidential aide.

 

According the Bill Chart sighted by our correspondent, the first reading of the bill was on December 10, 2019 while the second reading came up on February 22, 2020. Thereafter, the committee presented its report on the bill and the third reading was done on March 10, 2020. The bill was then referred to the Senate Committee on Trade and Investment for concurrence.

 

Both chambers later harmonised their positions on the bill before it was transmitted to the President for assent. When confronted with these records, Enang explained that when he said that the bill was not sponsored by Buhari, he was referring to the original bill which was sponsored by some members of the 8th National Assembly.

 

According to him, the CAMA Amendment was passed by the previous Assembly but the President declined assent because he did not agree with the legislature on some of its provisions. “When the 8th Assembly passed the bill, it was transmitted to Mr President but he declined signing it because he was not okay with certain provisions in it.

 

Due to time constraints, he could not return the bill and convey to the National Assembly  his reasons for not signing it before the tenure of that Assembly elapsed. He also could not convey such a letter rejecting the bill to the 9th Assembly because it was not the authors of the original bill.

 

“However, after consulting with the relevant ministries, identifying the lapses and correcting them, the bill was redrafted and represented as an executive bill to the 9th Assembly for consideration and passage,” he explained.

 

Enang who allayed the fears of the Christian community about the law, insisted that religious bodies had no need to fear as the law was meant to promote transparency, accountability and eliminate incidences of fraud in the running of churches, mosques, charities and other non-governmental organisations.

 

The presidential aide said that his presentation of the facts behind the law to the leadership of CAN at a recent meeting as well as other presentations to media houses would help in no small measure in dousing the misconceptions and tensions surrounding the legislation.

 

According to him, the law also seeks to curb the increasing threats of money laundering and terrorism financing by external forces that may be targeting Nigeria. He disclosed that there have been intelligence reports linking the widespread insecurity and terrorism in parts of Nigeria to some radical sectarian groups who receive funding from foreign countries.

 

Enang said that with the new provisions in the CAMA legislation, the board of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) would, for instance, be able to know when foreign funds hit the accounts of charities and other nongovernmental organisations operating in the North East region of the country and guard against the use of such funds to undermine national security.

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