The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Magaji, has called for the urgent creation of a single, harmonized national register for beneficial ownership to eliminate regulatory loopholes exploited by corrupt entities in Nigeria.
Speaking at an anti-corruption event titled “Transparency for Development: The Nigeria Experience” to mark the CAC’s 35th anniversary, Magaji argued that the current fragmented system where sectors like the extractive industry maintain separate registers weakens national integrity and complicates law enforcement efforts.
He emphasized that the CAC is legally positioned to serve as the central repository for all beneficial ownership information.
He urged the National Assembly to pass the “Persons with Significant Control” rules into a formal Act to provide a more robust legal framework.
”Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in the global direction of transparency,” Magaji stated, citing a recent UK court decision regarding property ownership linked to Nigeria as a reminder of the importance of asset tracing.
He specifically flagged a growing concern where large corporations disclose other entities as beneficial owners rather than the actual individuals, a practice he says “creates layers of concealment and undermines accountability.”
The Registrar-General issued a stern warning regarding the “inactive” status of non-compliant companies.
While the CAC flags companies that fail to disclose their Persons with Significant Control (PSC) as inactive, Magaji revealed that some financial institutions continue to allow these entities to operate accounts and transfer funds.
”This is a major weakness in our national compliance chain,” he said. “If a company is not compliant, it must not enjoy the privileges of legality.”
Internal Crackdown on Corruption
In a move to demonstrate “zero tolerance” within the Commission, Magaji disclosed significant internal
discipline.
“Three CAC staff members were handed over to the ICPC for unauthorized tampering with company records,” he said.
The RG noted that, the Commission submitted a list of 248 fake company registrations to the EFCC for investigation adding that additional 15 entities were identified and submitted for prosecution for illegal transactions.
Supporting the CAC’s stance, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices a other offences Commission, ICPC, Musa Aliyu represented by Director Ademola Kareem stressed that transparency works best when institutions operate as a unified system rather than in silos.
”Development is ultimately a function of systems, institutions, and values,” Olukoyede noted, calling for private sector and citizen ownership of transparency as a shared national value.
On his part, the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Olanipekun Olukoyede, represented said the commission adopts three-pronged strategy of prevention, investigation, and prosecution in its ongoing campaign against systemic corruption.
He said while the approach remains broad-based, the preventive framework has emerged as the most cost-effective and impactful modality. The Commission noted that preventing financial crimes before they occur yields greater national gains than confronting the aftermath of illicit activities.
He stressed that the “anti-corruption war” requires a shift toward universal involvement, regardless of social or professional status. By forging stronger alliances and evolving new methods to tackle corrupt practices, the EFCC aims to institutionalize transparency across the nation.
”We must collaborate more to win more,” the Commission stated, underlining that the ongoing restructuring is specifically engineered to offer better intelligence to anti-corruption agencies and secure the nation’s financial integrity.
