Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, ICSAN, a leading recognised professional body in Nigeria dedicated to enhancing the status and practice of Corporate Governance and Public Administration, believes that despite the benefits derivable from the new amended Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA, 2020, publishing unclaimed dividends in two national dailies as stated in the Act exposes shareholders’ information to fraudsters.

The Institute which is the only professional body authorised in Nigeria to conduct the examinations leading to the qualification of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, says athough the Act gave opportunity to shareholders to have their names on record, it however exposes their data to the public, thereby denying them data privacy.

According to its President and Chairman of Council, Bode Ayeku, the Act, though laudable, has some controversial provisions and missed opportunities, which to a large extent, do not make it fit into the new normal as a result of Covid-19 outbreak.

Ayeku who commended President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the Bill, said apart from data privacy, fraudsters would now have the opportunity to creatively think of something to access dividends of innocent shareholders, saying the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, and the government needed to look into this.

He said making publicity is an avenue for shareholders to be aware that they have outstanding dividends, but they must be mindful of the implications, so as not to open the floodgate for fraudsters.

According to him, with technology, a lot of fraudsters are capitalising on the systems to hijack shareholders’ unclaimed dividends, so the government, through the CAC, should ensure this is handled in a productive way.

He advised that companies could forward the list with annual reports attached to the shareholders themselves to prevent cyber criminals.

Ayeku noted that the new legislation has a requirement of five persons in the audit committee, unlike six persons in the old CAMA, which provided equal membership of directors and shareholders, saying in the new CAMA, shareholders’ representatives are three persons while representatives of non-executive directors are two.

The challenge, according to him, is that many companies have held their Annual General Meetings (AGMs) recently, and have complied with the law with an equal membership audit committee before the passage of the new legislation.

Against this backdrop, he urged companies to maintain the status quo until they’re able to make amends and fully comply in the next AGM.

Furthermore, Ayeku said Nigeria needed legislation on how to manage AGMs, urging that virtual meetings should also be allowed for public companies.

He added that since the CAC has embraced digital filing of documents, the agency should also come up with specific timelines to ease customers waiting time.

The ICSAN President, Bode Ayeku said this at a news briefing on the new CAMA 2020 legislation in Lagos at ICSAN secretariat.

L-R Francis Olawale Honourary Treasurer, Gbenga Owokalade Vice President, Bode Ayeku President / Chairman of Council , Mrs. Taiwo Olusesi CEO/Registrar and Mrs. Lynda Onefeli Chairman Publicity and Advocacy Committee all of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria.