Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has deregistered more than 400,000 inactive companies in a major move aimed at strengthening investor confidence and sanitising the country’s corporate registry.
Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Magaji, disclosed this during a commemorative road walk marking the Commission’s 35th anniversary. He explained that the exercise targeted dormant entities that undermine economic transparency.
He emphasised that inactive companies could pose economic risks, adding:
“These are shell companies. They are companies that are not filing annual returns, inactive and becoming threats to operations in the economy. We did it to encourage confidence in our investors so that we have a credible register here in the Corporate Affairs Commission.”
Highlighting another transparency initiative, the Registrar-General announced the operationalisation of the Beneficial Ownership Register, designed to reveal the individuals behind corporate entities.
“That Beneficial Ownership Register, we have launched and operationalised it and it becomes a reference point across the globe. We want to know the ultimate people behind any company,” Magaji said.
He further stressed the global significance of the register in promoting corporate accountability, stating:
“You just visit our Beneficial Ownership Register, you will see the people behind any company in Nigeria. Nowhere to hide. For the sake of transparency and accountability.”
Magaji also disclosed that the CAC had supported Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through free business registrations to stimulate entrepreneurship.
“In the year 2025, just last year, we gifted 250,000 registrations to MSMEs in Nigeria. And we made it to be accessed through the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN,” he said.
The Registrar-General reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to staff welfare and institutional development.
“We are determined in 2026 to have a hospital managed by the Corporate Affairs Commission. We have improved their welfare. I just announced car loan support and housing loan support to our staff. We are doing this to build their morale and to ensure full service delivery,” he added.