Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has said all registered organisations, including religious bodies have been mandated to henceforth submit details of their finances to the agency.
Private individuals and the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) had recently described CAMA as satanic, tasking President Muhammadu Buhari to halt the implementation of what Christian leaders described as “obnoxious and ungodly law until religious institutions are exempted from it.”
CAMA was recently signed into law by the President, and the Federal Government had since included the law in the list of achievements by the Buhari Presidency in the last one year.
But, speaking on the raging controversy over CAMA over the weekend, CAC Registrar-General, Garba Abubakar, said he’s wondering why the act was being opposed by religious bodies, especially the churches.
According to him, “They (churches) must henceforth subject their finances and expenditures for proper auditing, and copies sent to us at the CAC.
“The new legal framework applies to all organisations registered with us; be it a religious organisation, non-governmental organisations or civil society organisations.
“Remember that they also have constitutions guiding them. The criteria to be a trustee of registered organisations are clearly spelt out in the laws establishing them.
“How is it that a registered member who qualifies to be a trustee in an organisation would not want government to know how the organisation is run? What are the responsibilities of the trustees?
“What are the responsibilities of the governing council or the board? How do you manage the affairs of the organisation? How do you use or expend the income and properties of the organisation? How do you appoint members of the governing board? These are the issues the new CAMA has come to address.
Idowu Sowunmi
