By Achile Danjuma
The Senate has called on President Bola Tinubu to remove Hussaini Magaji, the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), citing his persistent refusal to honour invitations from the Senate Committee on Finance.
The resolution was passed on Thursday following a motion by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu during a high-level engagement session with members of the President’s economic team.
Tensions flared at the onset of the meeting when agency heads were called upon to introduce themselves, and lawmakers noticed the absence of the CAC boss. Magaji had been specifically summoned to provide clarity on the commission’s activities and address discrepancies in its revenue reconciliation.
Moving the motion, Senator Kalu expressed outrage over what he described as a pattern of institutional disrespect by the registrar-general.
“Since I came to the Senate, this CAC man has always given excuses—that he is in the Villa, or going to London. He is not above the law,” Kalu fumed. “Look at the ministers of finance and budget. They are both here. We summoned them and they came. But this man thinks he’s bigger than the Senate. We’re not going to take that rubbish again.”
Kalu stressed that the registrar-general had repeatedly failed to appear before the committee despite multiple invitations, leaving critical issues regarding the commission’s revenue unaddressed.
“I move a motion that the man should be reported to Mr. President and ask for immediate removal because we cannot continue with him. He should come and give us an account of what he had done,” he added.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, reinforced the motion, reminding the chamber of the constitutional weight of the committee’s authority. He noted that Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution empower the committee to summon any government official for oversight.
“The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission has refused on so many occasions to honour the calls, invitations, or summons of this most important committee,” Senator Musa said. “We have issues with the reconciliation of their revenue. Anytime he is invited, he gives one reason or another, and sends junior officers to speak to the Senate. That cannot be accepted.”
In a sharply worded contribution, Senator Adams Oshiomhole proposed stricter punitive measures, including freezing the commission’s access to its 2026 budget and internally generated revenue until the registrar-general appears in person.
“This Senate should decline to appropriate anything in the 2026 budget until we are satisfied that he has accounted for previous money and spending properly,” Oshiomhole declared. “And should he spend money that is not appropriated, he should be heading to Kuje prison.”
The motion urging President Tinubu to remove the CAC Registrar-General was eventually put to a voice vote by the committee and unanimously adopted.