The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will strike out 45,000 dormant companies from its register for defaulting in filing annual returns since their incorporation, a statement said in Abuja on Monday.
The statement, issued by CAC Director, Media and Public Relations, Mr Churchill Williams, said the companies failed to file the reports in spite of many reminders sent to them.
It said the CAC Registrar-General, Alhaji Bello Mahmud, made the decision known when he presented the commission’s report to the Annual General Conference of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Calabar.
The statement said the commission would, however, give the companies one last opportunity to update their records by publishing their names in its Website and two national newspapers.
“Any company that fails to comply at the expiration of the deadline will have its name struck out from the register,” it warned
It pointed out that the commission had introduced the “Companies Regulation 2012” as part of efforts to meet the expectation of its customers and standardise its processes.
The statement said the regulation was approved by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, pursuant to sections 16, 585 and 609 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
It stated that the regulation was intended to fill some of the gaps in the provisions of CAMA.
“The regulation now requires every director and subscriber of companies under Part ‘A’ and Trustees of Associations under part ‘C’ to submit recognised form of identification,” it said.
The identification includes information page of international passport, driver’s licence or national identity card as proof of identity before registration.
The statement added that the new requirement would help to check cases of underage directorship, fake identification and fulfil national and international obligations under different anti-money laundering and counter terrorism legislation.
“The regulation will cover pay requirement, codify some established conventions not properly addressed by the substantive provisions of CAMA.
“It will also provide details of pre and post requirement incorporation process and redesign registration form,” it stated.
The statement said the commission had commenced 24-hour registration in Abuja and introduced start-to-finish registration service in its two Lagos offices, Kano, Kaduna and Enugu for new applications.
It stated that the state offices now processed new applications and issued registration certificates directly to customers, adding that the services would be extended to other state offices in due course.
It said the new initiative had brought the services in the state offices at par with the head office.
It further said that the development would reduce cost and improve Nigeria’s rating in the Global Doing Business and competitiveness index.
