The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced its intention to deregister almost 100,000 inactive companies that have failed to file their financial statements for a decade. The CAC issued a warning to the owners of these companies, stating that they risk losing their registration and legal status if they fail to comply with the CAC’s guidelines on corporate governance and filing requirements.
The CAC has asked the affected companies and their owners to file all outstanding returns within 90 days from July. Failure to do so will result in the companies being delisted and disappearing. We hope that the list published by the CAC is correct.
The list includes the names of some well-known organizations that would not normally be expected to default on annual financial statements. Such unexpected names include Sopitex Nigeria Limited, Murhi International Co.(Nig) Ltd, Chisco Transport (Nigeria) Limited, French-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zenon Petroleum And Gas Limited, Edfin Microfinance Bank Limited, Kay Farms Products Limited, Arewa Textile Limited, Christian Pentecostal Fellowship Of Nigeria, Elf Exploration Nig Ltd, and Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited.
The CAC notice titled “Notice of Intent to Remove Companies from the Register” states that its power under Section 692(3)(4) of the Companies Act No.3 of 2020 is intended to disclose and remove the names of dissolved or dormant companies that have not filed their annual accounts for ten years from the Register. It is dated 23 July 2024.
“These companies are given a period of 90 days from the date of this publication to file all outstanding Annual Returns and send email of this fact to activation@cac.gov.ng so as to remove the name from the list.”
“It is to be noted that it is illegal to carry on business with the name of a company that has been delisted from the register as such company is deemed to be dissolved. View the list by clicking the link below https://www.cac.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AR-DEFAULT-JUL-16-2024-1.csv,” the publication stated.
