The Federal Government has been asked to review the controversial Company and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA) targeted at non-profit making organizations including Churches, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations and signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari. In a release made available recently, the Catholic Bishop of Oyo Diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Badejo said the federal government should demonstrate what he described as its democratic character by taking another look at the law considering the public outcry and condemnation that have trailed the bill.
The release entitled “CAMA 2020 Treat Churches Unfairly,” stated in part, “Religious bodies, especially Churches are rightly concerned about certain new provisions of the law concerning them, particularly Chapter four of its section 839, dealing with incorporated trustees of non-profit organizations or associations including religious ones, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations.” According to Bishop Badejo the terms of the law simply granting what he called sweeping powers to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) that, wherever it suspects fraud or mismanagement of funds, it would approach the court, suspend and replace the trustees of any association with interim managers.
Another aspect that worries the Catholic Bishop is that no particular qualification is specified about such managers that relate to the organization concerned. The Catholic Bishop noted that the bill might infringe on the constitutional rights of citizens to freely associate and take control of their associations. “If Churches do not enjoy grantsin-aid from government, they cannot justifiably be subjected to such overbearing powers as have been granted the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC.),” he emphasized. Bishop Badejo said another option to the matter is for the religious bodies or Churches to make their grievances known and test its legality in the court of law, if necessary
