The Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, has called for a single, harmonised national register for beneficial ownership of companies in Nigeria, warning that fragmented ownership records are weakening the country’s fight against corruption and financial crimes.
Registrar-General of CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, made the call in Abuja during the Commission’s Anti-Corruption Day event held as part of activities marking its 35th anniversary.
Magaji noted that although Nigeria has recorded progress in beneficial ownership transparency, major gaps remain due to the existence of separate ownership registers maintained by certain sectors, including the extractive industry and free trade zones, outside the CAC’s central database.
According to him, the fragmented arrangement creates duplication, inconsistencies, and regulatory loopholes that complicate law enforcement investigations and undermine the national integrity framework.
He stressed that a single national register, centrally managed by CAC, would enhance transparency, improve verification processes, reduce abuse of corporate structures, and strengthen Nigeria’s compliance with global anti-money laundering standards.
Magaji also urged stakeholders to support efforts to convert the current Persons with Significant Control, PSC, Rules into an Act of the National Assembly to provide stronger legal backing for ownership disclosure requirements.
He disclosed that CAC now flags companies that fail to disclose their beneficial owners as inactive, making them ineligible for credible transactions.
The CAC boss, however, lamented that some financial institutions still allow such companies to open accounts and transact, thereby weakening enforcement efforts.
He said another challenge was the practice by some corporations of listing other entities rather than individuals as beneficial owners, thereby defeating the purpose of transparency and creating layers of concealment.
On CAC’s internal anti-corruption drive, the Registrar-General revealed that three staff members were recently handed over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, over alleged tampering with company records.
He further disclosed that the Commission submitted 248 fake company registrations, along with another 15 suspicious entities, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for investigation and prosecution.
Magaji emphasized that CAC’s records remain critical in tracing corporate ownership and dismantling structures used to conceal illicit financial flows, stressing that successful prosecution of financial crimes depends heavily on accurate corporate identity records.
He called for sustained collaboration among anti-corruption agencies to strengthen intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement in the national interest.
Also speaking, the Director of Public Enlightenment and Education at ICPC, Ademola Bakari, described transparency as a decisive factor in national development, noting that countries that grow sustainably are those where rules are clear, information is accessible and institutions are accountable.
Bakari said Nigeria’s development challenges are often rooted not in lack of ideas or resources but in weak systems and poor accountability, stressing that opaque corporate structures have historically enabled illicit financial flows, tax evasion and misuse of public resources.
He noted that reforms such as the Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA, 2020 and Nigeria’s beneficial ownership regulations have strengthened corporate disclosure and aligned the country with global anti-money laundering standards.
He added that CAC’s digital reforms and inter-agency data sharing have improved access to corporate information, boosted investor confidence and enhanced compliance enforcement, stressing that transparency remains critical to attracting investment, expanding the tax base and promoting sustainable economic growth.
Speaking on behalf of the EFCC Chairman, Prof. Gbenga Oduntan described CAC as a critical partner in anti-corruption enforcement, noting that investigations into financial and corporate crimes often rely on corporate identity and ownership records maintained by the Commission.
Oduntan lamented that corruption continues to undermine national development by diverting public resources into private hands, adding that the EFCC’s anti-corruption strategy focuses on prevention, investigation and prosecution.
Oduntan stressed that prevention remains the most effective and cost-efficient strategy, urging CAC staff and stakeholders to strengthen collaboration with enforcement agencies by providing timely intelligence on suspicious corporate activities.
He reaffirmed EFCC’s commitment to working closely with CAC in tackling money laundering and illicit financial flows, adding that stronger cooperation among institutions remains essential to entrenching transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public and private sectors.
