CAC commences implementation of CAMA 2020
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) said it has commenced the implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020. This is coming months after the bill was passed into law and the president’s assent on August, 6th,2020.
It would be recalled that the bill generated a lot of controversy and talking point from religious bodies and Non-Governmental organizations(NGOs).They had expressed concerns on the bill alleging that it was targeted at whittling down their powers and corporate liberty.
Specifically, they made reference to Section 839 of the CAMA Act 2020. According to Section 839 (1), “The Commission may by order suspend the trustees of an association and appoint an interim manager or managers to manage the affairs of an association where it reasonably believes that (a) there is or has been any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the association; (b) it is necessary and desirable for the purpose of
- protecting the purpose of the association (ii) securing a proper application for the property of the association towards achieving the objects of the association, the purposes of the association of that property or of the property coming to the association (iii) public interest; or the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently.
- ” The second subsection empowers the CAC to suspend the trustees through a court order upon a petition by the Commission itself or 20 per cent of the association’s members. Subsection 3 holds that the functions of the interim manager shall be determined by the Court in conjunction with the CAC.
The bill was earlier passed by the Bukola Saraki-led senate but the president refused to assent to the bill, asking to “preserve the powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation to approve the registration of companies limited by guarantee” among other provisions. In November 2019, the president asked the national assembly to effect some corrections to the bill, which led to it passing second reading in February, 2020 , before the president signed on August, 6th, 2020..
Commenting on the new development, CAC Registrar-General, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, stated that the self-service portal would be used for end-to-end electronic submission by customers. Abubakar disclosed that CAMA 2020 went into effect on the 1st of January and that registered companies were given until the 31st of March to update their information.
“The Honourable Minister approved the Companies Regulation 2021 towards the end of December, 2020 and the approval says it is effective from Jan. 1, 2021,” Abubakar said.
He continued:”Already the implementation has started and we have upgraded software that allows you to register your company electronically. The law has come with a lot of innovations and changes to some of the old provisions of CAMA 1990, so we needed to make some changes to bring them up-to-date, consistent with the new law”.
On why there was a delay in the implementation of the Act, the CAC boss said: “We needed to make necessary changes to the Registration software to accommodate the reforms introduced by the new law, and that took some time. The portal started working on Jan. 3 and customers are already using it; so from the comfort of your home or using your own phone, you can now register your company,” he added.
Abubakar also stated that CAC’s new integrated platform reduced service delivery time and process, enabling ease of doing business in the country.
“For the first time, post-incorporation filings are also being done electronically, in the past they were done manually. The upgrade has also introduced a new interface that allows for post-registration; so when you register your company, you can change your directors without having to come to CAC.”
The bill which became Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020 has been regarded by experts as the most significant business legislation in Nigeria since 1990 when the previous Act was enacted.
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