The Senate, on Tuesday, threw its weight behind moves for the establishment of an Integrated Corporate Commercial Data Management Commission ( ICCDMC) in the country.

This, it said, was for the harmonisation of certificates issued by corporate commercial statutory regulatory bodies.

The Senate’s move followed the bill’s passage, through second reading, for an Act of Parliament to that effect. The bill, titled ‘A bill for an Act to Establish Integrated Corporate Commercial Data Management Commission,’ was sponsored by Yusuf Yusuf (APC – Taraba).

Mr Yusuf, in his lead debate, explained that the proposed commission would serve as a body for the comprehensive collation and harmonisation of certificates issued by “Corporate Commercial Statutory Regulatory Bodies.”

He further said that the bill sought to establish and undertake the enumeration of all corporate entities registered in Nigeria under one data system and conduct a comprehensive review of all certificates.

“This bill seeks to establish, maintain and update a data bank for continuous collection of data and grading or classification of corporate entities in Nigeria and to provide a framework for the effective harmonisation of activities of relevant regulatory agencies relating to corporate commercial entities in Nigeria,” said the senator.

The commission, according to him, would be self-financing through its internally-generated revenue and would, therefore, not be a burden on the country.

He added that the commission would not, in any way, have any overlapping functions with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

All senators, who contributed to the debate on the bill, supported its passage for a second reading and referred it to the Senate’s Committee on Establishment and Public Service for more legislative input.

The committee was given four weeks by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to submit its report. 

(NAN)