Participants at a one-day Public Consultation/Sensitization programme have advised the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to constitute a group of experts and key stakeholder groups from the private sector, media and civil society to assist it in the establishment of the Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR) which would have the required solid foundation and legal framework in line with Nigeria’s commitment to put a virile BOR in place when it joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in 2016.
The participants also recommended that the CAC and other relevant authorities should ensure that the openness as well as public availability and accessibility of the Register was given appropriate legal backing through the adoption of an appropriate legal instrument, which should at a minimum be in the form of Regulations.
The consultation which was attended by representatives of various stakeholder groups including government, Civil Society and the Media held in Lagos on Thursday, August 27, 2020 and was organised by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Nigeria Secretariat in partnership with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) also had support from the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Oxfam in Nigeria.
Those in attendance include the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani); the Civil Society Adviser of the OGP Nigeria Secretariat, Stanley Achonu and the immediate past Co-chair of the National Steering Committee of OGP Nigeria, Edetaen Ojo, who chaired the occasion.
It was the view of the participants that the Regulations to be formulated by the CAC should draw from other existing legal instruments and frameworks such as Data Protection Regulation (2019) and Freedom of Information Act (2011). The regulations, in their view, should be developed through a consultative and participatory process involving key stakeholder groups like the private sector, the media, and civil society.
While commending the Registrar-General of the CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar for his detailed briefing during the consultation , the participants urged the CAC to ensure that any unique identifiers system installed for the Register is interoperable with those of other agencies with similar online platforms.
They also stressed the need for regular public consultations to solicit and receive comments, inputs and feedback from the wider public as well as to rigorously implement the relevant provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA), relating to the establishment of the Beneficial Ownership Register, including adopting appropriate regulations which elaborate the initiative and give full effect to all aspects of it.
In a communique released after the consultation programme, the participants advised the OGP Secretariat to work with relevant actors, including the CAC, to develop an appropriate communication strategy which should facilitate public awareness and enlightenment efforts, including proactively disseminating information to the public about all aspects and stages of the Beneficial Ownership Register initiative.
Participants also advised the OGP Secretariat and other relevant authorities to urgently put in place concrete plans to build the capacity of various stakeholder groups, including relevant government, regulatory and anti-corruption agencies as well as civil society and the media to use the Register in the course of their work.
Those in attendance expressed appreciation for the assurances by the Registrar-General of the CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar that the Beneficial Ownership Register will be publicly available in Open Data format consistent with Nigeria’s OGP commitment and previous statements by President Muhammadu Buhari that the Register will be open.
Segun Fatuase
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