A group of lawyers under the aegis of Lawyers of Conscience has called on the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, to remove the Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Mr. Bello Mahmud.
In a statement signed by Shadrach Seth, the group accused the Registrar General of financial recklessness, impunity and corruption.
According to the letter, there has been an increase in all the charges payable for services rendered by the CAC yet the management of the Commission has not improved service delivery.
“There has been progressive increase in the cost of services CAC renders to customers but there is no corresponding improvement in service delivery,” the letter noted.
The following services have seen increase in fees:
1. Name Availability Search which used be N200 now increased to N500
2. Search from N1000 to N2000
3. Reservation of name for Limited by Guarantee application used to be N200.
It is now N5000
4. Filing of Incorporated Trustee, used to be N22,000 it is now N37,000
5. The penalty payable for delay in filing Annual Returns has increased.
6. RG’s Consent N5000 for reservation of a name.
The group accused the Registrar General of gross abuse of the provisions of the Company and Allied Matters Act 1990 in the manner he banned one of its members, Mr. Che Oyinatumba, from entering the premises of the Commission to conduct legitimate business.
The group noted that under the administration of Mr. Bello Mahmud infrastructure in the Commission has deteriorated and efforts to constructively engage the management has led to witch-hunt.
It deplored the “malicious persecution” of Mr. Che Oyinatumba by the management of CAC and the use of the State Security Services to repeatedly arrest and detain him.
“The Management of Corporate Affairs Commission is desirous of hiding the decay in the Commission,” the statement added. It said the attempt to expose it, led to the removal of the name of Mr. Oyinatumba from the Register of Accredited Customers of CAC.
The Management of the Corporate Affairs Commission via an Internal Memo dated 28thFebruary 2014 mandated all its Zonal offices across the federation too deny Mr. Che Oyinatumba access into the Commission.
According to the group, things have gone progressively worse since Mr. Bello Mahmud took over as the Registrar General of CAC. It said “prior to the appointment of Mr. Mahmud Bello, the CAC had a biometric system machine at the gate that gave access to customers. This machine was procured at great cost and in this era of terrorism threat, we are surprised that such reliable means of identification is disabled at CAC.”
The group called on the Minister of Trade and Investment to cause a ministerial probe into the financial activities of CAC, a move they believe would restore the dignity of CAC and restore faith of both Nigerians and foreigners in increasing commercial activities in Nigeria.
The group also petitioned the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce calling for prompt redemptive action, including probe and public hearing into the activities of the CAC.
Lawyers of Conscience is an anti-corruption group committed to using the full paraphernalia of the law and media to expose corrupt practices both in government and private agencies.
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