The Corporate Affairs Commission has said it will remove 100,000 registered companies from its database soon.

During a training on ‘Use of the beneficial ownership register’, in Lagos, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, disclosed the commission’s intention to delete 100,000 registered companies from its database.

“CAC steps up enforcement of 100,000 companies to go off its register for failure to file an annual return,” Abubakar said.

According to him, 100,000 companies that failed to file annual returns in the last 10 years were due to be struck off by the Corporate Affairs Commission.

Abubakar, however, said the commission would send notice of striking off to the affected companies before embarking on the action as enshrined in section 692 of the CAMA, 2020.

He explained that the companies were entitled to be relisted after payment of their outstanding debts and order of a court, as provided by the law.

Abubakar advised companies to ensure timely payment of their annual returns to avoid being struck off.

Speaking on Africa’s first Beneficial Ownership Register, built by the CAC with the support and assistance of the World Bank, the registrar general said it would go a long way in curbing corruption, money laundering, and terrorism financing.

He urged stakeholders, especially, investigating agencies, legal practitioners, journalists, and civil society organisations, to utilise the BOR in discharging their responsibilities.

In his remark, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law, NBA-SBL, Dr Adeyeye Adefulu, commended the CAC for recording another important milestone in its history.

Adefulu said NBA-SBL would sustain its existing cordial relationship with the commission. He charged members to make good use of the knowledge acquired at the training for the benefit of the Nigerian economy.

Also speaking, the President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, underscored the importance of the BOR in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.

Gwadabe, who highlighted some of the dangers associated with money laundering and terrorism financing, advised professionals to apply due diligence while dealing with their clients.

[Punch]