Corporate Affairs Commission Goes Digital

As much as Nigeria is said to be an attractive investment destination this is also however qualified by the difficulty faced in doing business here. The latest rankings on the ease of doing business in countries around the world by the World Bank placed Nigeria 129th among 189 countries surveyed. The stress experienced during incorporation at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) cannot be quantified, excuses ranging from perennial system break downs to time wasting processes, the high cost of registration and last year I was with all sincerity dumbstruck when I was informed by the CAC Lagos office that the generator was not working so we had to get a staffs mobile no and resort to calling daily, for fully 5 days before the generator was back on form. I have no doubt there are loads more instances experienced by numerous people most especially lawyers in the course of doing their business. In a chat about investments in Rwanda with the Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria he gave me a book called Investor Info Pack and in there on ‘Starting Your Business, the very first line stated that ‘starting a business in Rwanda requires 2 steps and 6 hours only’. Step 1:approval of a company name and step 2: obtaining a certificate of incorporation.’ In Nigeria meanwhile you will have to endure the process of 15 stages before getting a business registered.

One thing Nigeria has caught onto is the digital age, with statistics indicating that there are 63 million Nigerians engaged on the internet on a regular basis. Not surprisingly at long last the CAC has stepped up its game with the recent launch of the CAC company registration portal. Businesses can now be registered with the Commission through a user-friendly portal. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga at the launch is quoted as saying that ‘one of the key enablers of the industrial revolution plan is to improve the investment climate by removing bottlenecks in the entire life cycle of a business, beginning with the procedures of starting and registering that business. The CAC e-business platform will revolutionise business incorporations in Nigeria.’ International investors would be able to register their businesses from their homes wherever they are in the world he said. Further more the e-registration portal would put an end to many unwholesome practices and revenue meant for government coffers would be guaranteed to be received as access and payment for the Commission’s services can be made online without recourse to third parties. This system will be expanded to introduce transparency and accountability because it will be easy to find out more about different companies and their directors. A fete worth celebrating as finally doing business in Nigeria will be made easy, simple and as cheap as possible.

One cannot but notice the inter-ministerial partnership and the major role played by the Ministry of Communication Technology which provided 60% of the financial cost as well as technical support for the project. The Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. (Mrs.) Omobola Johnson explained that the actualisation of the mandate is through the ‘Getting Government Online’ initiative which has the primary objective of leveraging ICT to enhance the effectiveness of service delivery for the benefit of the citizens. In reeling out ministries and agencies that had keyed into the projects to support their call centres she mentioned the Ministries of Aviation, Health, Power and the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the desire to attract investors and enhance our business potential, we must also ensure investors see clear evidence of an efficient justice delivery service in action. The judicial sector cannot be kept on the back burner any longer. Just as the CAC has embraced technology so too must our justice sector wholeheartedly embrace technology in its entirety. The Bar, the Bench and the wider public cannot continue to scream and shout about how the Judiciary is in desperate need of improving on its justice delivery system. One area that would make a remarkable difference is in the drive to improve the administration of justice through Information Communication Technology (ICT). During the tenure of the past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher in 2012 he inaugurated a committee, headed by Hon. Justice Kashim Zannah, the Chief Judge of Borno State, to outline a policy for the application of ICT in the running of the day-to-day activities of the Nigerian courts. The committee came up with the Judicial Information Technology Policy of the Nigerian Judiciary (JITPO). The main focus of JITPO is to ensure that ICT is used to effectively support the functions and activities of the justice administration and dispensation by enabling optimal development, deployment and management of ICT within the Nigerian Judiciary. The ultimate goal in short, is to bring the justice system into the 21st century. The process of the implementation of the JITPO has started, with 12 courts, namely: the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, The Federal High Court, the FCT High Court, the National Industrial Court and the High Court of Bayelsa, Borno, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kaduna and Kogi States. The Supreme Court of Nigeria is now fully equipped and connected with wireless internet services. At the recently held public dialogue on the Future of the Administration of Justice in Nigeria by the Nigerian Bar Association, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice Ibrahim Auta in his speech did mention that the use of technology in his court enables him to speak with other Justices of his Court based in various other jurisdictions. Still on the Federal High Court, one cannot but notice the use of a monitor displayed in the compound of the Lagos Federal High Court indicating the details regarding cases, the name of the judge, court no, the cases in a particular court and which case was being heard at any point in time. Lagos State High Court and FCT High Court have started the electronic court proceedings recording system which can be processed for transcription. Last year Lagos State launched its Electronic Filing System, under which, court officials, litigants and lawyers could access or file cases from anywhere and at any time.

No doubt the judiciary is certainly on the right track to unbundling the baggage it has carried over the years and we look forward with keen interest to an era where the administration of justice in Nigeria will be at par with its counterparts in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in particular and where would be investors and Nigerians as a whole will be confident about the justice system. Lack of funding has no doubt been a stumbling block and a stifling factor and must not be overlooked by the powers that be.