Following the failure of the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) Registrar-General, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, to provide crucial information regarding the number of registered companies in the nation, the House of Representatives Committee on Finance withdrew the CAC’s budget defence on Tuesday.
When the head of the CAC was unable to provide the total number of companies currently registered in Nigeria, the committee, led by James Faleke, decided during a meeting in Abuja.
A motion to halt the exercise was made after lawmakers were taken aback by what they claimed to be the registrar-general’s unfamiliarity with documents in the commission’s database.
Hon. Stanley Adedeji, who made the motion, criticised Magaji’s behaviour during the meeting, calling it unacceptable for the head of a crucial agency to appear before lawmakers without precise and verifiable statistics.
Adedeji pleaded with the chairman to remove the CAC head and reschedule the defence so he could return with thorough records.
“This man is incapable of managing this organisation. You shouldn’t stand in front of us and claim that you don’t have any records, in my opinion. I believe we should step you down and bring you back another day if you are unable to communicate with us in a factual manner. The lawmaker stated, “It is unacceptable for you to come here and tell us you started in October and all of that.”
Earlier in his presentation, Magaji made an effort to present data on the amount of money received from incorporating a business, registering a business name, appointing trustees, filing annual returns, obtaining certified true copies, enforcing compliance, and paying accreditation fees.
But his explanation of the numbers seemed erratic and ambiguous, which increased the committee’s doubts about the accuracy of the information provided.
After discussing the matter, the committee decided to postpone the meeting until Tuesday of the following week and instructed the registrar-general to return with precise and comprehensive data regarding the commission’s database and revenue profile.
Lawmakers emphasised that reliable data from the Corporate Affairs Commission, a crucial body in charge of company registration and business-entity regulation in Nigeria, is necessary for efficient oversight and revenue planning.
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