Trade Minister Oduwole Petitioned Over CAC Corporate Records Alteration in River Park Estate Dispute

Uzoma Mba

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, has been formally petitioned by two Abuja-based companies, Jonah Capital Limited and Houses for Africa Limited, seeking intervention over alleged administrative actions by the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN.

The petition, submitted on behalf of the firms by Ghanaian investor Sir Samuel Esson Jonah, KBE, requests the minister to investigate what he described as the “unlawful expropriation of shares, extrajudicial removal of directors, and retrospective invalidation of corporate filings” by the CAC.

In a letter dated 8 December 2025, Jonah alleged that the Registrar-General had unilaterally reversed nearly two decades of corporate records relating to Jonah Capital Nigeria Ltd and Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd, affecting ownership structures, management, and ongoing litigation concerning the companies.The petition claims that the CAC had “reverted the status of the companies back to incorporation—2006 for Jonah Capital and 2007 for Houses for Africa—despite only three filings being under contention, which are already before the Federal High Court.” Jonah stressed that the CAC was aware of the pending court proceedings prior to the administrative actions.According to the petition, the Registrar-General’s actions risk undermining ongoing legal processes and could create what Jonah described as a scenario where the disputed companies might be unable to defend themselves. He warned that this could potentially result in “economic losses of unprecedented scale,” disrupt banking relationships, and complicate the companies’ legal standing in ongoing lawsuits.Jonah also raised concerns about regulatory consistency, noting that in 2023, CAC directed companies with foreign participation to raise their share capital to ₦100 million, a requirement his companies had met. He argued that retroactive changes to company filings placed them in default, exposing them to penalties and operational challenges.The petition further highlighted the welfare of staff, suggesting that the administrative decisions could “expose our staff, local and foreign, to risks associated with wrongful termination by newly purported management.” Jonah therefore urged Minister Oduwole to use her office to ensure the Registrar-General reverses the alleged administrative actions.Earlier reports indicated that the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, had intervened in the River Park Estate dispute, instructing CAC to suspend corporate actions related to the companies while a review of police investigation files was ongoing. A letter dated 24 September 2025 from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Mrs. B. E. Jedy-Agba, requested CAC to preserve the corporate records of the firms pending legal review.The dispute has also drawn the attention of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, which ordered all parties to maintain the status quo over the contested River Park Estate, effectively halting development and transactions on the property.Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has received a petition to investigate the alleged tampering of corporate records by the CAC Registrar-General. The petition, presented by Hon. Muktar Tolani Shagaya (Ilorin West, Kwara State), was formally accepted during plenary presided over by Deputy Speaker Hon. Benjamin Kalu.In response, CAC issued a statement denying any illegal alteration of company records, maintaining that the commission has acted within its statutory mandate.The River Park Estate ownership dispute, valued at billions of naira, continues to generate legal and regulatory scrutiny, highlighting the complexities of corporate governance and land development in the Federal Capital Territory.