The Corporate Affairs Commission deregistered over 400,000 companies in 2025, citing prolonged inactivity and failure to meet statutory compliance requirements.
This was disclosed by the Registrar-General of the commission, Mr Hussaini Magaji, during activities marking CAC’s 35th anniversary in Abuja on Saturday.
The move forms part of efforts to clean up the national companies register and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s corporate regulatory framework.
What CAC said
According to Magaji, the mass deregistration was necessary to remove inactive and non-compliant entities from the commission’s database and protect the integrity of the register.
- “In 2025 alone, the commission de-registered over 400,000 companies, in a bid to clean up its database from inactive and non-compliant entities,” he said.
He added that the action was aimed at ensuring transparency and credibility in Nigeria’s business environment.
On support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the CAC boss disclosed that the commission facilitated free business registrations for 250,000 entrepreneurs in collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
He described the initiative as part of CAC’s intervention to reduce the cost of business formalisation and encourage small businesses to operate within the regulated economy.
According to him, the programme is aimed at easing entry barriers for small businesses and expanding participation in the formal sector.
Backstory
As part of CAC’s broader effort to sanitise Nigeria’s corporate registry and ensure that only active and compliant entities remain in the system, it had earlier announced plans to delist 100,000 companies from its register over prolonged inactivity and failure to comply with statutory requirements under the Companies and Allied Matters Act.
According to a public notice issued by the commission at the time, the affected companies were identified as entities that had either stopped carrying on business, remained inactive for at least 10 years, or failed to meet key regulatory obligations, particularly the filing of annual returns and disclosure of Persons with Significant Control.
The CAC gave the affected companies a 90-day window from the date of publication to regularise their status by filing all outstanding annual returns and, where applicable, sending activation emails to activation@cac.gov.ng
More insights
Magaji also said the commission has operationalised a Beneficial Ownership Register, enabling the public to identify the ultimate owners of companies operating in Nigeria.
- He noted that the register has become a global reference point for corporate transparency and efforts to combat financial crimes.
- On staff welfare, the registrar general said CAC has introduced housing and vehicle loan schemes and is planning to establish a health facility to cater for serving and retired staff.
He said the anniversary celebration reflected the commission’s teamwork, resilience and commitment to service delivery.
- “The strength you see here today represents our workforce and their dedication to serving over 200 million Nigerians,” he said.
What you should know
Nairametrics has reported that the Commission has been steadily digitising its operations to improve service delivery and ease of doing business in Nigeria.
- In July 2025, the commission unveiled a new AI-powered registration portal designed to transform the company registration experience by speeding up approvals, enabling instant name reservations, and significantly reducing the time it takes to generate business certificates.
- The system aims to deliver registration certificates in under 30 minutes once a user’s National Identification Number (NIN) is verified. A shift from traditional, in-office procedures to technology-driven solutions that allow entrepreneurs to complete business registration remotely.
CAC also upgrade and optimise its portal for smoother access and improved user experience, part of a broader strategy to simplify compliance and accelerate digital adoption across its platforms.
The commission also announced the removal of 247 companies from its database for operating with false Registered Certificate (RC) numbers.
