The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) plans to remove 91,843 companies from its register because they have not submitted their annual returns.
The commission has published a list of these companies on its website. This number is slightly lower than the 94,581 companies initially listed in August.
It is also fewer than the 100,000 companies that CAC had previously announced it would remove.
In July, Garba Abubakar, the Registrar-General and CEO of the CAC, announced that the commission would remove 100,000 registered businesses from its database.
This was because these businesses had failed to file their annual returns. Abubakar stated that the commission would first notify the affected companies before taking the necessary action as mandated by Section 692 of the CAMA, 2020.
In a recent update on December 5, the CAC provided further information on this matter, stating:
“Further to its earlier notice of the commencement of striking off the names of Companies from the Register of Companies and published on August 2, 2023, the Commission hereby notifies the General Public that the list of Companies that have failed to comply with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, to file up to date annual returns is now ready for publication in accordance with the provisions of Section 692 of the Act.
“Companies who filed complete annual returns in response to the earlier publication are advised to confirm removal from the list of Companies to be struck off. The updated list for publication is available on the Commission’s website.”
The CAC has stated that if a business has filed full annual returns but is still on the list, they should send an email to compliance@cac.gov.ng within 30 days, providing evidence of filing.
Additionally, if a company’s name has been removed from the register of companies, they are not allowed to conduct any business until the Federal High Court instructs that their name be reinstated on the register.