ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s Senate on Thursday called on President Bola Tinubu to remove Hussaini Magaji, the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), after lawmakers accused him of repeatedly refusing to appear before the Senate Committee on Finance for oversight and budget-related engagements. The resolution came during an interactive session with the federal government’s economic team in Abuja.
The push for Magaji’s removal was led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia North, who said the CAC chief had persistently ignored invitations from the committee and instead sent junior officials in his place. According to Kalu, Magaji’s conduct amounted to open disregard for the Senate’s constitutional oversight powers. Punch reported that Kalu told the committee the CAC boss behaved “as if he is above the law,” while Premium Times said lawmakers were especially frustrated because other senior officials, including ministers, had appeared as requested.
The motion was seconded by Senator Adams Oshiomhole of Edo North, who went further by warning that the National Assembly could refuse to approve funding for the commission in the 2026 budget if the situation persists. Vanguard separately reported that the committee resolved to formally write the president to demand Magaji’s dismissal. Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, said the refusal of any head of a ministry, department or agency to honour a legislative summons was unacceptable. He stressed that the committee’s work is backed by the Constitution and that oversight is not optional. Musa warned that the Senate would use its full constitutional powers to compel accountability from agencies that delay submissions, ignore legislative inquiries or fail to show up when summoned.
The dispute appears to be part of a longer-running standoff between the CAC leadership and the Senate finance panel. Archived reporting from 2023 shows the same committee, also chaired by Musa, had previously ordered police to compel Magaji to appear after he failed to honour an invitation. That history likely intensified lawmakers’ anger at Thursday’s session. As of Thursday evening, there was no public response from Magaji or the Corporate Affairs Commission to the Senate’s latest call for his removal. It also remains unclear whether President Tinubu will act on the recommendation, since the Senate’s resolution is politically weighty but not, by itself, an automatic dismissal order.
For now, the confrontation adds another layer of tension to the 2026 budget process, with the CAC now facing not only questions over compliance and accountability, but also a direct threat to its funding and leadership.
