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By Pius Dukor
As corruption indices continue to increase in the award of contracts across the country, with companies deliberately refusing to execute contract according to terms, the regustrar- general, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Alhaji Garba Abubakar, has said moves by the commission to ensure the use of the Beneficial Ownership register will improve transparency and accountability as well as reduce corruption in the award of contracts.
Abubakar made the revelation at a one-day training workshop on the use of Beneficial Ownership register in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
In his opening remark at the event the register-general, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, represented by Mr. Justin Nidia Biraol, director, Compliance, maintained that the use of beneficial ownership register will fight corruption and anti- terrorism, noting that step is provided by Company and Allied Matter CAMA, especially section 119.
He stated that the Corporate Affairs Commission is empowered by CAMA section 868 to define who is a rightful owner of a company.
Abubakar explained that the workshop is supported by the Word Bank, USAID, CISLAC, Oasis Management Company Ltd and Palladium to enssure that Nigerian are sensitized, especially those in the South South and the South East regions.
The CAC boss expressed belief that if Nigerians and the civil society organizations can use this instrument by checking the owners of companies who are awarded contract by government and did not execute such contract, such owners can be exposed and known by the general public.
He said there is monitory sanction against any company who refused to disclose the owners of such organisation within a stipulated time by law, while noting that the law takes cognisance of only those who hold five percent share in the company. This, he said, is the best global practice now to check on corrupt individual and companies.
“Effective implementation of the beneficial ownership framework is essential for the fight against corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation funding,” he added.
In a lecture, Mr. Raymond Sylva- Oriji of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit stressed that this process is important in our system to reduce crime and lack of transparency among our contractors. “This is also in the best interest of Nigeria to attract funding externally,” he said.
In an interview after the event, the senior program officer of CISLAC, Muna Ugochukwu, told journalists that the training workshop on the use of beneficial ownership register will help monitor those companies that evade tax.
On lack of compliance by companies he said there are already sanctions awaiting defaulters.
In his remark, Mr. Kelechi Amaechi, the chairman, Rivers State Tax Justice Platform, expressed fears that some very powerful Nigerian who own most of this companies may be above the law because they are “powerful and stronger than our institutions.”
It could be recalled that other anti-corruption agencies like, EFCC, ICPC, CBN, CAC, NFIU are all party to monitor the process. Participants also observed that they should include Public Procurement Officer and Code of Conduct if Nigeria want to sanitize the system.
