Dike Onwuamaeze
The Registrar General/Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Mr. Hussaini Ishaq Magaji (SAN), has urged members of Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria’s (BRIPAN) to translate strong legal foundation and tools contained in the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 into measurable outcomes.
Magaji declared this on Thursday in his keynote address at BRIPAN’s International Conference 2026 with the theme” ‘Building an Insolvency Architecture for a New World Order’.
He said, “Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, CAMA 2020 has given Nigeria a strong foundation. Our collective task is to translate its provisions into measurable outcomes: more viable businesses rescued, more jobs preserved, better recoveries for creditors, greater accountability by office-holders and increased confidence in the Nigerian economy.”
He identified these tools and foundation as rescue, restructuring, administration, receivership, liquidation, investigation and the reversal of improper pre-insolvency transactions.
Magaji said, “A modern insolvency system must do more than liquidate failed companies. It must facilitate early intervention, preserve viable businesses, protect employment, maximise returns to creditors and provide an orderly exit where rescue is no longer practicable.
“This is the philosophy underlying the insolvency reforms introduced by the CAMA 2020, which marked a significant transition from a predominantly liquidation-centred regime towards a rescue and recovery framework.”
According to him, “the Insolvency Regulations 2022 give practical effect to these provisions through requirements relating to accreditation, continuing education, renewal and withdrawal of accreditation.
“These safeguards are essential because insolvency practitioners exercise extensive powers over distressed businesses, creditors’ recoveries, employees’ livelihoods and productive assets.
“The commission is, therefore, committed to ensuring that practitioners are competent, independent, ethical and fit and proper to hold office.
“We are equally committed to improving digital filing, strengthening the integrity of corporate records, issuing appropriate regulations and guidance, monitoring compliance and collaborating with the courts, professional bodies and other regulators,” Magaji said.
In his welcome address, the President of BRIPAN, Mr. Albert Folorunsho, who is also the managing consultant, Kreston Pedabo, said that practitioners have made important progress and gained valuable practical experience six years after the introduction of the insolvency and business rescue provisions under CAMA 2020.
Folorunsho said that this experience must now guide the next phase of the development of Nigeria’s insolvency architecture.
He said, “Our conversations will address the implementation of CAMA 2020, cross-border insolvency, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital assets, sector-specific business distress, judicial efficiency, ethics, regulations and the future of our profession.
“The world of business is changing, and insolvency practice must change with it.
“Our responsibility is not merely to respond to distress when it occurs, but to help build an architecture that preserves value, rescues viable enterprises, protects stakeholders and contributes to sustainable economic growth.
“That is the challenge before us. And that is the opportunity before BRIPAN and our profession.”