CAC gives about 100,000 companies 90 days to file returns or be struck off

Image: Jummy001 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Corporate Affairs Commission's 'Batch 6' notice under section 692 of CAMA 2020 targets companies with unfiled annual returns and beneficial ownership information.

Jurisdiction NigeriaPractice Corporate and CommercialSector Public Sector

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has published a notice of its intention to strike about 100,000 companies off the register for failing to file annual returns, Nigerian Eye reported on 16 July 2026. The exercise, described as Batch 6, relies on sections 692(3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA) and gives affected companies 90 days from the notice to regularise.

What companies must do

According to the notice as reported by Saga Gist on 16 July, affected companies must file all outstanding annual returns and their Persons with Significant Control (beneficial ownership) information, and then submit evidence of compliance to the Commission. The CAC warned that “companies that fail to act within the stipulated timeline will be struck off the register without further notice.” The reports state that the Commission had previously given companies a 90-day window to regularise, and no second chance is signalled this time.

The legal basis

Section 692 of CAMA allows the Registrar-General to strike off a company that the Commission has reasonable cause to believe is not carrying on business or in operation, after notice. Failure to file annual returns is the most common trigger. The notice also ties strike-off to the beneficial ownership regime introduced by CAMA 2020 and the Persons with Significant Control Regulations, so a company that files returns but omits its PSC information remains at risk.

Why it matters

A struck-off company ceases to exist as a legal person. It cannot sue, enforce contracts or hold property in its own name, and its bank accounts and licences are exposed. Restoration is possible under CAMA, but requires an application and payment of outstanding fees and penalties, and third parties may have acted in the meantime. For dormant special purpose vehicles, holding companies of foreign investors and subsidiaries whose filings have lapsed, the period before the 90-day window closes in mid-October 2026 is the time to check the register and file.

The exercise also matters for transactions. Buyers, lenders and investors conducting due diligence on Nigerian targets should confirm that each group company appears on the CAC register with current filings and PSC disclosures, and should make up-to-date filings a condition precedent where they are not. Company secretaries and counsel acting for groups with many Nigerian entities should audit the whole structure, since a single struck-off subsidiary holding an asset or a licence can delay completion or create title problems later.