Facts emerging from the quarters of the Corporate Affairs Commission, indicting the Nigerian Immigration Service of improper conduct, have revealed that a de-listed company handled the recent and now infamous recruitment exercise for the Nigeria Immigration Service, which ended in stampedes across several states and the deaths of about 20 job applicants.
According to a notification from the Corporate Affairs Commission, in a letter dated March 21, 2014, Drexel Nigeria Limited, which was awarded the contract to carry out the recruitment exercise, had not field its annual returns to the commission in the last 20 years. This brings up questions as to how Drexel Nigeria LTD, obtained the tax clearance required as a perquisite to securing a government contract.
An annual return, a company’s audited report, is the legal proof that the company is still operational under the laws of the Federal republic of Nigeria; and is therefore a breach of the Company Act for any company to operate within Nigeria without filing its annual returns to CAC.
Every company formed from the date of its incorporation is by law required to pay its first Annual Returns immediately after 18 Months of registration. That is if a company were formed in January of 2012, it would be expected to file in and pay its Annual returns from the first of July 2014 and any immediate default attracts a late fee of N100 per day for not complying.
This should make Drexel Nigeria Limited liable for N730,000 in fines, excluding all statutory payments it is required to make. The fees for the Annual returns is just N2,000 at present.
CAC de-listings
The CAC has within the last couple of years, de-listed about 450,000 companies, for various offences, ranging from non-filing and irregular filing of annual returns among others.
The letter shows that Drexel Nigeria Limited was registered on August 25, 1989, with a share capital of N500,000. In 1,999,999 of those shares were owned by Kolawole Ayodeji Sofeso of 1A, Sanusi Street, Isolo, Lagos, while Daniel Adetunji Sofeso of 8C, Reeve Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, owned 299,999 shares.
The company has three other directors, namely, Daniel Suleiman Inman, Collins Ayodeji Osiwja and Michael Abayomi Sofeso, all of 3A, Adesoye Street, Okupe Estate, Maryland, Lagos.
The company was registered to carry out the business of exporters, importers, buying agents, trust agents, forwarding and clearing agents, commission agents, financial agents, travel agents etc.
Checks also showed that the website of NIS is being managed by the same company.
Immigration’s reaction
When asked about knowledge of the operating status of Drexel Nigeria Limited, the Nigeria Immigration Service said that the minister of interior, Abba Moro, was in a better position to answer that question as NIS has had no dealing or contact with the company.
NIS spokesman, Chukwuemeka Obua, said, “The best person to answer this is the minister or a member of the Civil Defence, Immigration and Services Board. The comptroller-general of NIS never had any direct dealing, no MoU and no contact with Drexel.”
He added, “The comptroller-general cannot employ without the board. According to the law establishing the Nigeria Immigration Service, issues of promotion and recruitment are handled by the 10-man board.”
The special adviser to the minister on media, George Udoh, however said that he was not in a position to comment on the letter from CAC because he had not seen it nor was he in a position to comment on allegations from NIS that Drexel was engaged by the minister and board with the comptroller-general having nothing to do with it.
Udoh said, “I have not seen a copy of the letter. It will be impossible for me to ascertain. I do not think I can make any comment until I have seen the letter.”
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