The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has said it de-listed 46, 000 companies in its 2016 gazette that was made public recently because it had sufficient evidence to show that those companies could no longer carry on business operations in the country.
This explanation was given by the Registrar-General of the Commission, Bello Mahmud, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Garba Abubabar, at a press briefing held in Abuja.
According to Mahmud, the de-listing exercise will continue because the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990, empowers the commission to do so.
He, however, disclosed that companies that were affected in the latest de-listing exercise could still re-apply for fresh registration as the law provides them a window period of 20 years from the date the gazette was published.
“In the first delisting that was done in 2008, we delisted 9, 341 companies. Then, last year about 46, 000 companies were delisted as published in the recent gazette.
“This is an on-going exercise, because the law says if the commission has reasonable cause to believe that a company cannot carry on business, the company should be de-registered.
“But the fact that you have been de-listed does not bar you from re-applying. You have a window of 20 years from the date of the gazette to re-apply,” Mahmud said
The Registrar-General also revealed that the commission will no longer accept physical manual registrations from businesses.
He said that, in adapting to the trend in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the commission developed a portal for e-registration which could now be accessed in only 6 states. The states are: Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Rivers, and Abuja.
Mahmud noted that the e-registration would eliminate all forms of mal-practices associated with a third-party, and also make it easier for more Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to register their businesses as well as create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country.