Court reverses CAC’s deregistration of 2 companies

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to restore Creative Brains Academy Limited and JJ Integrated Services Limited to its register of companies after striking off their names in 2024.

Justice James Omotosho delivered the two separate rulings in October 26, 2026 following applications filed by the respective companies.

Nairametrics exclusively reports that the legal teams of the two companies dragged the CAC before the court, seeking favourable declaratory reliefs.

Companies’ arguments

Creative Brains, among other reliefs, prayed for an order setting aside the CAC’s publication striking off the applicant’s name from the Register of Companies.

The company’s legal team submitted that the court’s restorative jurisdiction should be exercised judicially and judiciously, having regard to the facts placed before it.

The company argued that the applicant had demonstrated a bona fide intention to regularise its status by filing all outstanding annual returns.

For JJ Integrated Services, the company urged the court to direct the CAC to relist and restore its name to the register of companies maintained by the commission.

What the court said

In the case involving Creative Brains, Justice Omotosho, citing the affidavit filed in support of the application, stated that the applicant had presented copies of acknowledgements confirming the filing of outstanding annual returns for 2016 to 2025, as required by the CAC.

• He ruled that, having complied with the requirement to file annual returns, the company was entitled to have its name restored to the register.
• The judge held that it was in the interest of justice to restore the applicant’s name to the register of companies maintained by the CAC and preserve its corporate identity by placing it in the same position as if its name had not been struck off.
• The judge also noted, based on the further affidavit, that the applicant had shown that its name was struck off through a publication dated December 30, 2024, which was within 10 years of the date of its removal from the register.

He added that the application was brought timeously and that the court was empowered by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020, to grant the relief sought.

In his final analysis, the judge ruled that Creative Brains’ application was meritorious and consequently ordered the CAC to restore the company to the register.

In his separate ruling on JJ Integrated Services, the judge also observed that the company had complied with the relevant laws by filing its outstanding annual returns for 2009 to 2026.

• “The law confers on this Honourable Court the discretionary powers to order the restoration of the name of a company on the register of companies kept by the Corporate Affairs Commission,” he stated.

Citing Section 692(6) of CAMA 2020, the court expressed satisfaction that the company had been carrying on business at the time its name was struck off the register.

The judge subsequently ordered the CAC to restore the company’s name to the register.

What you should know

The CAC is a Federal Government agency responsible for the registration, regulation and management of companies in Nigeria.

• One of the key laws governing its operations is the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
• Under CAMA and the 1999 Constitution, the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to adjudicate on relevant disputes involving the CAC and make appropriate orders within the limits of its constitutional and statutory powers.
• In April 2024, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the commission to restore Osinowo Properties Company Limited, a company founded 56 years earlier, to its register of companies.

The CAC deregistered over 400,000 companies in 2025, citing prolonged inactivity and failure to meet statutory compliance requirements.