Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission has removed more than 400,000 companies from its register in 2025, signalling a tougher regulatory stance aimed at cleaning up the country’s corporate records and improving confidence in the business environment.
The Registrar General of the commission, Hussaini Magaji, disclosed the figure in Abuja at the weekend during events marking the agency’s 35th anniversary. He said the exercise was part of a broader effort to sanitise the national companies database by eliminating inactive and non-compliant entities.
“In 2025 alone, the commission deregistered over 400,000 companies in a bid to clean up its database from inactive and non-compliant entities,” Magaji said.
According to the commission, the affected firms had either ceased operations for years or failed to meet statutory obligations under the Companies and Allied Matters Act. These obligations include filing annual returns and disclosing persons with significant control, requirements that Nigerian regulators increasingly view as central to corporate transparency and investor protection.
Magaji described the action as necessary to protect the integrity of the corporate register. Removing dormant and defaulting firms, he said, would help curb regulatory abuse, improve the accuracy of official records, and strengthen trust among both local and foreign investors.
The large-scale deregistration follows earlier public notices in which the commission signalled its intention to strike off at least 100,000 companies that had stopped carrying on business, remained inactive for a minimum of 10 years, or failed to comply with filing requirements. Affected companies were given a 90-day window to regularise their status by submitting outstanding documents and, where applicable, requesting reactivation through the commission’s official channels.
While enforcement has intensified, the commission has also sought to ease entry into the formal economy, particularly for small businesses. Magaji said the CAC, working with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, facilitated free business registration for about 250,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises nationwide.
The programme was designed to reduce the cost of formalisation and lower entry barriers for entrepreneurs, many of whom operate informally due to registration fees and compliance burdens. Officials say bringing these businesses into the regulated space broadens the tax base over time and improves access to credit and government support.
The cleanup of the corporate register is part of a wider reform agenda focused on transparency and digitisation. Magaji said the commission has fully operationalised a Beneficial Ownership Register, enabling the public and regulators to identify the ultimate owners of companies operating in Nigeria.
The register, he added, has attracted international attention as a tool for combating money laundering, terrorism financing and other financial crimes, areas where Nigeria has faced sustained scrutiny from global watchdogs.
Technology has also become central to the commission’s strategy. In July 2025, the CAC unveiled an artificial intelligence powered registration portal aimed at speeding up approvals and reducing human bottlenecks. The system allows instant name reservations and is designed to issue certificates of incorporation in under 30 minutes once a user’s National Identification Number is verified.
Officials say the platform marks a decisive shift away from paper-based and office-driven processes towards a fully digital registration system. The commission has also upgraded its online portal to improve user experience, simplify compliance filings and reduce turnaround times.
As part of its enforcement drive, the CAC recently removed 247 companies from its database for operating with false registered certificate numbers, a practice regulators say undermines trust and facilitates fraud.
Taken together, the measures reflect a more assertive approach by Nigeria’s corporate regulator, balancing stricter enforcement with efforts to make formalisation easier. For investors and business owners, the changes signal a regulatory environment that is becoming more data-driven, more transparent and less tolerant of non-compliance.