The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has taken a major step to clean up Nigeria’s corporate registry, announcing that it delisted more than 400,000 inactive and non‑compliant companies from its official register during the year 2025.
Registrar‑General Hussaini Magaji revealed the figures on Saturday during a Celebration Walk in Abuja, an event marking the commission’s continued efforts to strengthen corporate governance and transparency.
Magaji explained that the action was part of an ongoing initiative to remove dormant and non‑compliant entities from the national companies register, thereby safeguarding its integrity and improving confidence among investors, creditors, and other stakeholders.
The sweeping cleanup comes as Nigeria intensifies its reform of the business environment. In recent years, the CAC has shifted from a largely manual, location‑based registry to a fully digital platform, allowing entrepreneurs to register businesses remotely and access services 24/7, officials said.
Beyond deregistration, the commission has introduced further reforms to support formalisation and transparency. In collaboration with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the CAC facilitated free business registration for around 250,000 entrepreneurs — an effort designed to reduce barriers to entry for small businesses and encourage participation in the formal economy.
Magaji also highlighted the operationalisation of a Beneficial Ownership Register — a tool that enables the public to identify the ultimate owners of companies, a measure seen as critical to strengthening accountability and combating financial crime.
The CAC’s actions reflect broader regulatory efforts to ensure that only credible, compliant businesses remain in Nigeria’s corporate ecosystem while facilitating ease of doing business through digital transformation and support for budding enterprises.
