Over 100,000 companies face removal from register as Corporate Affairs Commission cracks down on non-compliance

The Corporate Affairs Commission has launched a new enforcement drive targeting around 100,000 non-compliant companies that face removal from Nigeria's companies register due to unmet statutory filing obligations.

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This latest move is being implemented under the provisions of Section 692(3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, as announced in a public notice on the commission's official Facebook page on Thursday.

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A 90-day window has been given to the affected companies to update their records by submitting all outstanding annual returns and providing information on Persons with Significant Control, also known as beneficial ownership information.

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According to the commission, the names of the affected companies are already available on its official website, and compliant firms are expected to send evidence of compliance to the Commission via its designated email address.

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The commission has warned that companies failing to meet the deadline will be removed from the register without further communication, as stated in a notice signed by its management.

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The notice informs the general public and customers that the Corporate Affairs Commission has started another round of removing company names from the register, citing the provisions of Section 692 (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020.

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The list of affected 100,000 companies can be accessed on the Commission's website, and these companies are advised to file all outstanding Annual Returns and regularise their records within ninety days, also submitting Persons with Significant Control/Beneficial Ownership information.

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Evidence of compliance must be sent to the designated email address, and companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline will be struck off the Register without further notice.

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The commission remains committed to providing prompt and efficient services to its valued customers, as stated in the notice.

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This enforcement exercise represents another phase of the commission's efforts to sanitise Nigeria's corporate register by removing inactive companies and entities that have persistently failed to comply with statutory obligations.

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The CAC has repeatedly emphasized the importance of maintaining an accurate and credible register to improve transparency in Nigeria's corporate environment, strengthen investor confidence, and ensure that only active and compliant businesses remain on its database.

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This is not the first large-scale compliance exercise by the commission, which announced plans in February this year to strike off another 100,000 companies from its register over prolonged inactivity and failure to comply with the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

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In 2025, the commission disclosed that it deregistered more than 400,000 companies after finding them inactive or persistently in breach of statutory filing requirements.

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The mass deregistration was part of broader efforts to clean up the national companies register, improve the integrity of corporate records, and align Nigeria's regulatory framework with international best practices.

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Under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, every registered company is required to file annual returns with the CAC to confirm that it remains operational and compliant with regulatory obligations, with incorporated companies having 42 days after each anniversary of incorporation to file annual returns.

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Registered business names are expected to file their annual returns before June 30 every year, and failure to comply attracts late filing penalties in addition to the prescribed filing fees and could ultimately lead to the company being struck off the register.

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The requirement for companies to disclose Persons with Significant Control, also known as beneficial ownership information, is part of Nigeria's wider reforms aimed at improving corporate transparency, combating money laundering and illicit financial flows, and complying with global beneficial ownership disclosure standards.