President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) on August 7, 2020 and the new CAMA is Nigeria’s most significant business legislation in three decades and it introduces new provisions that promote ease of doing business and reduce regulatory hurdles previously faced by people who intend to do business in Nigeria. The salient amendments and innovation in the new CAMA, 2020 include the following:

1. Exemption from appointing auditors: Small companies or any company having a single shareholder are no longer mandated to appoint auditors at the general meeting to audit their financial records. S. 402 of the new CAMA provides for exemption in relation to the audit of accounts in respect of a financial year.

2. Introduction of Statement of Compliance: Section 40(1) of the new CAMA, 2020 introduces that Statement of Compliance be signed by an applicant or his agent, confirming therein the requirement of law as to registration has been complied with. This serves as an alternative to the requirement to submit a Declaration of Compliance signed by a lawyer or attested to before a notary public.

3. Provision of Virtual Annual General Meetings: The new CAMA also provides for remote or virtual general meetings, provided that such meetings are conducted in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Company. This will facilitate participation from any location at minimal costs. This is especially relevant today given the disruptions caused the Covid-19 pandemic to operations around the world this year.

4. Replacement of authorized share capital with minimum share capital: The concept of “authorized share capital” has now been replaced in Section 27 of the Act with a “minimum share capital”. With minimum share capital, promoter(s) of a business need not pay for shares not needed at a specific time.

5. Provision of electronic filling, electronic share transfer and e-meetings for private companies: According to Section 861, the new CAMA provides that certified true copies of electronically filed documents are admissible in evidence, with equal validity with the original documents. Also, Section 176 (1) also provides that instruments of transfer of shares shall include electronic instruments of transfer.

6. Limited liability partnership and limited partnership: The new CAMA introduces the concept of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and Limited Partnerships (LPs). This combines the organizational flexibility and tax status of a partnership with the limited liability of a company.

The new CAMA is a step in the right direction in the quest of creating a conducive business environment in Nigeria and also consolidate the gains of the present administration in promoting the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

So nice
Everything will bounce back on the poor
Buhari never sign anything to favour the poor