By KINGSLEY OKOYE

The Senate has rescinded its earlier call for the removal of the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Magaji, by President Bola Tinubu.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this followed the adoption of a motion at the budget defence session of the Committee on Finance on Monday in Abuja.

NAN also reports that the motion followed the appearance of the registrar-general at the budget defence session, having offered a remorseful apology to the lawmakers over his failure to honour their invitations.

The committee had earlier expressed displeasure with Magaji over what it described as repeated failure to personally honour the committee’s invitations and respond promptly to official correspondences.

Chairman of the committee, Sen. Sani Musa, said that the lawmakers had observed a pattern of reluctance in responding to the committee’s correspondence.

He said that the CAC boss, instead of appearing before the committee, often delegated senior officers to represent him.

Musa said it was the constitutional mandate of the committee to exercise oversight responsibility over all revenue-generating agencies of government, including government-owned enterprises (GOEs) as well as ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

He said that at its previous sitting, the committee had taken serious action by recommending that a resolution be presented to the senate in plenary to write to the president to demand the removal of the registrar-general from office.

He, however, said that shortly after the pronouncement was made, the Magaji appeared before the committee within a short period, a development which, he said, raised further concerns.

In his response, Magaji tendered an unreserved apology to the committee, describing the incident as a communication gap between his organisation’s staff members and the National Assembly liaison unit.

The registrar-general said that he was in Lagos at the time the letter of invitation was received.

He further stated that he immediately cut short his engagements and instructed his staff members to inform the committee that he was on his way, adding, however, that he arrived late.

To prevent a recurrence, he said that a dedicated liaison office had been created to handle all matters relating to the National Assembly.

He assured the committee that such an occurrence would never happen again, reiterating his respect for the committee and taking full responsibility for the lapses.

Following his explanation, some lawmakers spoke in his defence.

Sen. Dickey Plang described the situation as unfortunate, noting that the registrar-general was deeply remorseful and deserved a second chance.

He said that members of the committee, particularly the senior lawmakers, had always demonstrated fairness and understanding on all matters.

Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi also said that Magaji should be forgiven, cautioning that ignoring lawmakers’ summons shouldn’t be the norm under any circumstance.

Sen. Ned Nwoko attested to the registrar-general’s disciplined disposition both in public service and private life, urging the committee to temper justice with compassion.

NAN reports that the motion to rescind the earlier call for the sack of the CAC boss was moved by Sen. Isa Jibrin and seconded by Sen. Sani Daura.

The CAC registrar-general was, thereafter, asked to reappear before the committee at a later date to defend his organisation’s 2024 and 2025 budget performance as well as the 2026 budget proposal. (NAN)