JUXTAPOSING THE REPEALED CAMA 1990 WITH CAMA 2020: AN EFFECTIVE LEGISLATION TO GOVERN CORPORATE ENTITIES IN THE EVER-DYNAMIC BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN NIGERIA?

Abstract

The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, signed into law on the 7th of August 2020 by the Nigerian president to govern and regulate corporate bodies in Nigeria, has been unanimously adjudged as the country’s most revolutionary piece of business legislation in decades and a timely needed respite for the promotion of good corporate governance in Nigerian corporate entities, including the private sector and small-scale businesses. The method applied in this paper is the doctrinal method, by juxtaposing major provisions of the repealed CAMA 1990 with those of the CAMA 2020. It discusses some of the key changes and innovations that make the CAMA 2020 unique and relevant to the realities of modern business operations and management. It also took into consideration certain developments as they affect the governance of corporate entities, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still ravaging many parts of the globe, especially the recent outbreak of the omicron version of the pandemic. It x-rays some of the relevant provisions of the Companies’ Regulations 2021 published by the Corporate Affairs Commission in the governing of corporate entities. It concludes by trying to answer the question as to whether the new Act is effective enough to address the challenges of company operations in the ever-dynamic business environment in Nigeria. It also recommended what to do to make the good law a better one.