Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has allayed fears expressed by the leadership of the church and Nigerians over the recently enacted Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.
Prof. Osinbajo said during a special conversation at the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference, that their concerns can be processed through possible amendment of the contentious section of the law through a proposal to the National Assembly.
“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,” he 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.”
The VP said further while clarifying the CAMA 2020, that “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.”
