“You Cannot Appear Before Us Without Accurate Records” — Reps Finance Committee Postpones CAC Budget Defence

The House of Representatives Committee on Finance has postponed the budget defense of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) due to the failure of its Registrar-General, Hussaini Magaji, to provide essential data on the number of registered companies in the country.

During a session in Abuja, chaired by James Faleke, the committee expressed its disappointment when Magaji was unable to specify the total number of companies currently registered in Nigeria.

Committee members were taken aback that the Registrar-General could not provide accurate figures from the agency’s database regarding the actual number of registered companies.

At this point, committee member Hon. Stanley Adedeji criticised Magaji’s performance, calling it unacceptable for the head of such a significant agency to appear before lawmakers without precise and verifiable data.

He then moved a motion to postpone the session and reschedule the budget defense so that Magaji could return with comprehensive records.

According to him, “This man is not competent to handle this agency. I don’t think you should stand before us and start telling us you don’t have records. If you cannot speak to us factually, I think we should step you down and bring you back another day. The idea of you coming here and telling us you started in October and all of that is unacceptable,” the lawmaker said.

Consequently, the motion was unanimously adopted and the CAC boss was asked to reappear before the Committee by next week Tuesday with the necessary information and data that would assist the Committee in its assignment.

Speaking earlier in his presentation, the CAC boss attempted to reel out figures on revenue generated from company incorporation, business name registration, incorporated trustees, annual returns filing, certified true copies, compliance enforcement and accreditation fees.

However, his breakdown of the figures appeared inconsistent and unclear, further heightening the committee’s concerns over the reliability of the data presented.

Following deliberations, the committee resolved to suspend the session until next Tuesday, directing the Registrar-General to return with detailed and accurate information on the commission’s database and revenue profile.