A collection of civil society groups in Abuja are calling on the president, Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Companies and Allied Matters bill.The group believes this will help to boost the fight against corruption and reassure Nigerians that the government is playing its role in blocking all
channels of corruption.
TVC News’ Kemi Balogun reports that over time it had become apparent that the entire Nigerian corporate landscape was heavily hamstrung by several provisions in the previous act of 1990 which has been described as impeding modern business practices in the light of national and global reforms.
The new bill for an act to repeal the companies and allied matters Act of 2016 seeks to establish an efficient means of regulating businesses,
minimize the compliance burden of small and medium enterprise, enhance transparency and shareholder engagement and promoting a friendly business climate in Nigeria.
And as legitimate corporate businesses have an integral role to play in national development, this is quite timely. But this group is concerned about the involvement of politically exposed persons who conceal corruptly acquired wealth
They believe these persons pose a n increasing risk to non fortified economies because they deliberately hide their identities through a
complex network of companies
The inclusion of a web based open beneficial ownership register will among other things expose stolen public fund holders and hold those involved
accountable.
A Business owner within the telecommunications sector, supports the call for the urgent presidential assent to the bill because he believes that this
will improve ratings in the business world and help with regulations.
This act will also directly affect the influx of foreign direct investment into Nigeria because of its relevance to ease of doing business and ease of
investing in Nigeria.
