President of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Bode Oyeku, has urged the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria to throw light on some contentious areas in the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, especially as it affects companies’ mode of financial operations.
Mr. Oyeku gave the charge penultimate Wednesday at a webinar organized by ICSAN with the topic, “Audit Regulations 2020: Addressing Stakeholders’ concerns on the mandatory registration of audit committee members with FRCN and sanctions.”
The ICSAN boss noted that CAMA 2020 provides that “All members of the Audit Committee shall be financially literate, and at least one member shall be a member of a professional accounting body in Nigeria established by an Act of the National Assembly”.
“However, section 26(3) of the Audit Regulations require all audit committee members to register with FRCN and shall submit “evidence of registration as a professional …” as a pre-requisite for such registration with FRCN.
Consequently, Mr. Ayeku requested FRCN to clarify: if members of professional bodies are the only persons now qualified to contest for election to the statutory audit committee of any public company.
He also asked if FRCN would allow a member of the statutory audit committee who is financially literate (e.g. a graduate in relevant discipline but not a member of any professional body) to be registered?
Speaking further, Oyeku demanded further clarification on if a public company can disqualify a non-professional from contesting election as an audit committee member and which law would it rely upon for such disqualification, among many issues.
Also speaking at the webinar, the acting Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Regulations Council of Nigeria, FRCN, Iheanyi Anyahara, promised to fix every grey area in the Audit Regulations, stressing the need on concerted effort by every stakeholder to ensure strict implementation.
