Benue State University, Makurdi

Regulating ‘God’s Business’: A Legal Analysis of Part F of Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020

Inebu Agbo-Ejeh*

Abstract

The Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 is the enabling law that regulates business entities and non-profits in Nigeria. The Act generated controversy among faith-based organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations in the country. While the new framework is praised as a great benefit for companies by enhancing the ease of doing business, it added clauses that are described by churches and NGOs as demanding and inflexible. Also, the Act is said to have far-reaching implications and what non-profit organisations interpreted as government impinging on religious rights. It has been argued that since the government does not support non-profit organisations as it is done in other countries, it should not regulate them to a large extent. It is put forward in this paper, non-profits and NGOs in Nigeria are exempted from tax to some degree, and that if the action or privileges of any religious organisation are being abused, the government can regulate. The paper nuanced the various provisions in Part F of the CAMA, and concluded that the Act is meant to forestall misconduct, mismanagement and fraud in non-profits and NGOs to promote public confidence in the above-mentioned organisations.

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