The House of Representatives has received a petition seeking an investigation into alleged unlawful tampering with the corporate records of Jonah Capital Nigeria Ltd and Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd by the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN.
The petition, submitted on behalf of the two companies, accused the CAC Registrar-General of altering corporate records to favour a contending party in an ownership dispute.
It was presented during plenary by Hon. Muktar Tolani Shagaya (APC, Kwara), who represents Ilorin West Federal Constituency, at a session presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
Presenting the petition, Shagaya said it was signed by Kojo Mensah Ansah and bordered on alleged “unlawful expropriation of shares, extrajudicial removal of directors and retrospective invalidation of corporate filings” of the affected companies by the CAC Registrar-General.
The Deputy Speaker thereafter granted permission for the petition to be formally laid before the House.
The petition arose from a protracted ownership dispute linked to the multi-billion-naira River Park Estate in Abuja, which has escalated into what the petitioners described as a corporate and regulatory crisis.
In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer of Jonah Capital Nigeria Ltd, Kojo Ansah Mensah, alleged that on December 8, 2025, the CAC Registrar-General unlawfully altered the ownership records of the two companies despite a pending court action and a directive from the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) instructing the Commission to halt such changes.
Mensah said the Solicitor-General of the Federation, acting on behalf of the AGF, had earlier directed the CAC on September 24, 2025, to place a caveat on the companies’ records pending the review of allegations of forgery against some investors.
According to him, the Registrar-General went ahead with the changes despite being served with originating summons weeks earlier. He also alleged that during a meeting held on December 1, 2025, attended by representatives of all parties and officials from the AGF’s office, the matter was clearly identified as being before the court.
Mensah described as false a subsequent claim by the Registrar-General that the investors failed to attend the meeting.
He further alleged that following the changes, individuals newly listed as directors—Olakitan Ogunmuyiwa and Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa—wrote to some commercial banks, including Zenith Bank, requesting the closure of the companies’ accounts, and also notified the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory of an alleged takeover.
Mensah said the actions were aimed at disrupting the operations of the companies.
The investors have since petitioned the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation, warning that the actions of the CAC could set a dangerous precedent capable of encouraging hostile takeovers through regulatory manipulation.
Meanwhile, Houses for Africa Nigeria Ltd has disowned Dr. Adeniran Ogunmuyiwa, who recently claimed to be representing the company, describing his claims as false and misleading.
The company stated that its directors, as reflected on CAC records, are Kojo Ansah Mensah, Sir Samuel Esson Jonah, Victor Quainoo and Jonah Nathaniel, adding that any other claim to directorship was fraudulent.
It said Ogunmuyiwa voluntarily relinquished his 20 per cent shareholding under a 2012 agreement, which was affirmed in 2013 and formalised through a resignation letter in 2017.
Industry observers say the controversy, involving rival directorship claims, regulatory actions and multiple court cases, has become one of the country’s most complex corporate governance disputes, with potential implications for investor confidence if left unresolved.
