CAC urges registered companies on filing returns to prevent deregistration

*Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission has disclosed the regulatory Commission prioritises filing of returns as one of the ways to also improve its Internally Generated Revenue, and this factor will be designed to compel registered companies to comply with the policy or get deregistered

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In order to avoid deregistration of their companies, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has urged registered corporate establishments to always file returns to the regulatory Commission.

ConsumerConnect reports the CAC Registrar-General handed down the directive in a media chat Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Abuja, FCT, eomphasised it was not enough that people to register companies, they must equally file returns to the Commission as required by law.

Alhaji Abubakar said through returns filing by registered companies that the commission was able to know which companies are active, and which ones are inactive.

He stated: “You must do what the law says you must do; you have to file your returns. We have categorised companies into what we call active or inactive.

“It is not enough that people registered companies, there is the need to always file returns to achieve meaningful growth.”

Abubakar also said: “Companies that have filed returns up to date are active. Those that have not filed returns up to date, we have classified them as inactive.

“This is creating lots of problems for most of them, because if you are applying for a Visa using a company account, no Embassy will give you a Visa, until you update your record with the CAC.”

According to the CAC Chief, until recently, several companies that are actually making money everyday do not bother to file returns to the Commission.

“Because there is no way for a third party to know whether such a company is active or not,” he stated.

Abubakar said that CAC would prioritise filing of returns as one of the ways to also improve its Internally Generated Revenue.

He also said that such priority would be designed to compel registered companies to comply with the policy or be deregistered.

The Registrar-General added: “The law has made deregistration more cumbersome now, hitherto if you have reasonable cause to believe that your company is not carrying out business operations, you can just write to the company.

“If they respond fine, if they do not send a second letter, you can strike them off. The law now says it must be five-years. You have to wait for five years.

“We hope companies will update their records, after 18 months if you do not file your next return, then it will go back to inactive, so the revenue will continue to grow.”