By Maria Famakinwa

Nigerians have continued to react to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) recently assented to by President Muhamadu Buhari. Religious bodies, especially, see the law as being targeted at religion centres and have urged the Federal Government to reconsider the bill.
The Act, among others, stipulates that religious bodies and charity organizations would be strictly regulated by the Register -General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and a supervising minister. It also provides that the commission may by order, suspend the trustees of an association or religious body and appoint an interim manager or managers to co-ordinate its affairs, where it reasonably believes that there has been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently or where it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest.
In his reaction, President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Samson Ayokunle, described the piece of legislation as a time bomb awaiting to explode if not immediately suspended. He said, “During the first term of President Buhari, there was a public hearing conducted by the National Assembly on the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Bill, tagged Bill For Act To Provide For The Establishment of The Non-Governmental Regulation Commission for The Supervision, Co-ordination and Monitoring of NGOs. At the public hearing, the bill that sought to bring the religious organizations and NGOs under the control and influence of the government was totally rejected because it would snuff life out of the church and rank it as a secular institution under secular control.
“We thought it was over, until we heard of the CAMA that was assented to by the President, making the rejected bill a law. The church cannot be controlled by the government because of its spiritual responsibilities and obligations. This is why we are calling on the federal government to stop the implementation of the obnoxious and ungodly law against religious organisations.”
On his part, National President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, (PFN) Reverend Felix Omobude, vowed to deploy every constitutional means to upturn what he described as unacceptable ‘copy and paste’ legislation imported by the National Assembly to undermine the authority of religious organizations in the country.”
Also, National Publicity Secretary of NASFAT, Mr Hakeem Yusuf, in his reaction said that they have no grouse with regulations that will ensure transparency but we uncomfortable with any arrangement that will see the government choosing its board of trustees. “Government cannot nominate anybody they like. If they are saying that, it means it is a complete take over, like in financial institutions, government regulatory bodies can do that.
Having said that, if you are mindful that somebody is monitoring your activities, it will allow for transparency and accountability if you are transparent, there will be no hidden agenda,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has urged those who have concerns about the recently signed CAMA law 2020 to approach the National Assembly for possible amendments. “We have a process by which this can be redressed. Whatever the proposal for amendment may be, regarding the interim trustees or not, can be put into a proposal that will be brought 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.
In his submission, The Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Mr Garba Abubakar, allayed fears that the commission was determined to hunt down churches and other organizations following the recent amendment of CAMA Act, 2020. Abubakar in his reactions said that the CAMA was not targeted at any particular group but rather to align organisational procedures in line with global best practices.
A Christian fateful, Mr Victor Omowole, who was very sad about the development, blamed it on pastors’ attitude and warned that the church needs a fresh revival. His words, “Government do not have any business with the church, because it is a spiritual institution which is answerable to God. Besides the government is not contributing anything to the church instead, the church have been the one supporting the government, like during the coronavirus lock down when churches across the country donated money and other items to the federal government.
“Anyway, I blame most pastors for this evil decision of the federal government, because they are good at flauting wealth acquired from their members, living larger than life, competing with one another. They are buying expensive cars, jeeps and cruising around the country like politicians. Some are flying private jets while their members are languishing in penury. This is why the federal government is targeting religion centres to make money, as they now see it as business venture. Truth be told, the church needs a revival,” he said.
Sharing a similar sentiment, an Islamic cleric, Mr Ibrahim Oluwalogbon, who maintained that the Federal Government CAMA law was dead on arrival, advised religion bodies to challenge the law in court. His words, “What is the business of government with religion centres, when we have so many important things crying for attention? Why will a serious government neglect the high rate of insecurity in the country and be focusing on private issues? It is better the case is challenge in court of competent jurisdiction because this law cannot stand.
“Nigerians are groaning in abject poverty with increasing rate of youth unemployment. The health sector is nothing to rely on which was the reason some citizens died of COVID-19 pandemic. Our major roads are like death traps as a week does not pass without recording crashes on our roads, not to talk of falling education standard and unending cases of corruption among political class. The list is endless without any solution only for the federal government to make religion centres its next target. This cannot work, because religion centres are not answerable to the government,”he said.