Only National Assembly Can Address CAMA Amendment,
Osinbanjo Tells Church Leaders
In an effort to allay fears expressed by the leadership of the
Church about the recently enacted Companies and Allied Matters Act
(CAMA) 2020, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN has said concerns
can be processed through possible amendment of the contentious
section of the law through a proposal to the National Assembly.
The Vice President stated this on Thursday during a special
conversation at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual
General Conference.
Responding to a question about reactions to CAMA, the Vice
President said “what can be done is that, whatever the proposal for
amendment may be, whatever the views of the leadership of the
church may be, regarding the question of how the trustees, whether
they are interim trustees or not, can be put in the form of a
proposal that will be taken to the National Assembly for
consideration for amendment to the law, that is the process which
is entirely opened and ought to be pursued.”
Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said “we are in a democracy and there
is a process by which things can be done and that process is the
one where you bring forward amendments to the National Assembly and
they will do whatever is considered useful in the
circumstance.”
Further clarifying the CAMA law, the Vice President said “it is
a massive legislation that covers a wide range of issues on
companies – general meetings, appointment of directors etc. Now,
there is a small portion of it called the Incorporated Trustees
Section, that small section of it is the section that regulates
charities.
“Churches, Mosques and church organizations are regarded as
charities. It is the Incorporated Trustees Section of the Companies
and Allied Matters Act that has become controversial. And because
churches are charities, the provisions in the incorporated trustees
section obviously affect the churches.”
Speaking about the fears expressed by the Church, the Vice
President said “what the Churches are concerned about is a
provision that says that in the event that some wrong-doing is
found to be perpetrated by the trustees of the particular
organization or Church, the Registrar-General of the Corporate
Affairs Commission (CAC) can go to court and get an order to
appoint interim administrators or interim trustees for the Church
or whichever charity organization and manage the organization.”
“The concern of the Churches is that it could lead to a
situation where practically anybody could be appointed as a trustee
to oversee the Church and a Church or a Mosque is a spiritual
organization and if you do not share the same faith with the Church
or Mosque, you may be the wrong person and if a wrong is appointed,
you may create more trouble for the organization,” the Vice
President added.
When asked by the moderator (Nduka Ogbeibena) if pastors are, by
their actions, unwilling to be accountable in the management of
their organizations, the Vice President said the issue is rather
the fear of abuse of the law than avoiding accountability.
According to Prof. Osinbajo, “As a general position, I do not
think it will be right to say that pastors don’t want to be
accountable. I believe that several Christian organizations and
pastors are willing to be accountable. The problems that they may
have is ensuring that processes are not abused in such a way as to
compromise the entire organization.. And I think that if all that
is required is some process of accountability, I think it will be
easier for organizations to accept that.”
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
27th August 2020