The Presidency and the Senate are set on a collision course as they battle for the soul of the Corporate Affairs Commission.
On Thursday, the Senate moved to assume power to scrutinize and ratify the appointments of the chairman and board members of the CAC, a move the Minster of Trade and Investments, Olusegun Aganga, kicked against.
The battle ahead came to the fore at a public hearing organized by the Senate, seeking to review the laws establishing the CAC, as well as to restructure the commission.
The amendment will also ensure openness and accountability in the generation and allocation of funds to the commission during annual budgetary process.
The bill, when passed, will mandate the Commission to submit details of its annual budget to the National Assembly for constitutional appropriation as against the current practice of not indicating it in the entire executive budget, either as a commission or through its supervising Ministry, which is the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment.
Aganga argued that assuming such responsibility would amount to an encroachment on the powers of the President to appoint competent professionals as both chairman and board members of the CAC.
The Trade Minister said further that the proposed amendment would infringe on the powers and independence of the executive to appoint competent and qualified professionals to manage the affairs of the CAC.
On the submission of a separate budget for the CAC, Agaga argued that the budget of the CAC, like other agencies and parastatals, formed part of the national budget presented to the Senate annually and there was therefore no point demanding for the separate budget of the agency.
According to him, Sections 12, 13 and 14 of CAMA sufficiently addressed all the issues raised by the senators in the bill, saying the funds allocated to the CAC and the revenue generated by it, form part of the federal budget passed by the National Assembly.
The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who represented Senate President David Mark at the opening of the hearing, posited that the amendment would promote democratic ethos and accountability in CAC management.
Ndoma-Egba said: “We must make efforts to align our practices either in the public or private sector, to democratic ethos.
“Because of the importance of the CAC, there is the need to subject membership of its board to the Senate confirmation.
“Nigerians should know the CAC members, their qualifications, views on the nation’s economic climate and their specific plans to promote trade and investment opportunities in the country.
“The best way to achieve this is through the Senate confirmation.”
Speaking, the Acting Registrar General of the CAC, Effiong Esu, said the agency had already set up a committee saddled with the responsibility of carrying out a comprehensive review of the entire CAMA law.
Esu contended that the conclusion of the exercise would lay to rest fears being expressed by the Senate.
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