Only 20% registered entities pay annual returns – CAC RG

The Registrar General (RG) of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Magaji (SAN), has disclosed that only 20 per cent of registered entities in the country pay their annual returns.

Magaji, who stated this during a television interview which was monitored by Daily Trust over the weekend, said the commission had taken steps to address the issue using provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

He said, “When I assumed office I noticed that we were not implementing the provisions of the act and allowed so many entities the liberty not to file annual returns; just about 20 per cent of them paid.

“Annual returns is an update which the CAC requires every company to do at the end of the year to provide an update; whether you have changed the line of business or you have changed directors. In most cases we find businesses registered to do pharmaceutical business and they delve into real estate without notifying the CAC or even filing annual returns. Upon assumption of office, I said this could not continue.”

On the steps taken to address the issue, the RG said, “The commission now updated its system to automatically render any company or business that doesn’t file annual returns at the end of the year inactive; which means you can’t go to any embassy or anywhere to do business as a simple search on your company on the CAC portal will show that it is inactive. So, businesses and companies will now have no option than to file and pay their annual returns.”

Speaking on the ease of doing business, the RG revealed that the CAC had started deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure that businesses were registered within 10 minutes.

He said, “The CAC has been manually registering businesses since 1920, but we migrated to automated registration in 2021 and since then anywhere you are in the world, you can register your business within 24 hours and get your certificate afterwards.