The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has threatened to delete 100,000 registered companies from its database for failing to file an annual return.
Garba Abubakar, the registrar-general and chief executive officer, (CAC), disclosed the commission’s intention while addressing members of civil society, media, and security agencies among others on the use of the Beneficial Ownership Register, (BOR), recently in Kano.
According to Abubakar, 100,000 companies that failed to file annual returns in the last 10 years were due to be struck off by the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The CAC chief, however, said the commission would send notice of striking off to the affected companies and names of the companies will be published on the commission’s website and given four weeks ultimatum to comply before embarking on the action as enshrined in section 692 of the CAMA, 2020.
“The law is clear, any company that has not been filing its returns or obligations, that is considered inactive or not in operations, that company is liable to be struck off if they continue doing that for 10 years.
“So we have compiled the first list of 100,000 companies and they will be published on our website before the end of this week. They will be given four weeks within which to comply of which failure to comply their companies will be struck off from the register,” he warned.
Abubakar also disclosed that any company that is struck off will forfeit their properties to the government.explained that the companies were entitled to be relisted after payment of their outstanding debts and order of a court, as provided by the law.
He therefore advised companies to ensure timely payment of their annual returns to avoid being struck off, adding that they (the companies) are are at liberty to apply and to be relisted in the register, but whatever assets they have will be forfeited to the government if they are not relisted in the next 10 years.
Abubakar further warned that the provision of incorrect information at the point of registration attracts a two years jail term.
“So if the company fails to provide the correct information about the ultimate individual that controls that company at the point of registration, that is criminal and attracts a two-year jail term. If they delay in providing the information attract a daily default penalty minimum of N10,000 per day,” the CAC registrar said.
He stated further that the register is designed and implemented in line with international commitment, with the commitment made by the Nigeria government to have an open central register of beneficial owners of companies, in line with the principles of financial action task force, open government partnership and extractive industry transparency initiative.
