The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced that the profiles of owners of companies will now be made public. This announcement was made by the Registrar-General of CAC, Garba Abubakar, at the commission’s International Peer Learning Workshop. The event marks the launch of Nigeria’s Open Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies.
According to Mr. Abubakar, the register will be accessible to everyone, and records of a company’s shareholders can be viewed online free of charge. The initiative is aimed at supporting efforts to combat corruption in Nigeria and the world.
Explaining further, Mr. Abubakar affirmed the necessity of getting the beneficial ownership information to support the government’s anti-corruption agenda. He noted that companies are vehicles for corruption, illicit financial flow, and terrorism financing, and the information needed to track those responsible for such illegal activities can be found in a company’s ownership records.
He, however, assured innocent parties that they have nothing to worry about. Companies are required to disclose the persons that own them from the point of incorporation, a departure from the past where such information was not required. The Registrar-General believes that this initiative will further promote transparency and make the information available to the media, civil society, and investigation agencies.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), commended the initiative, describing it as an essential tool in the fight against corruption. He acknowledged that people want to know who owns what and that companies are now expected to provide such information.
According to Dr. Orji, the register will put companies on their toes to obey the laws, observe business ethics, be transparent, accountable, pay their taxes, and observe public entity. He added that when the owners of a company are well known, the possibility of malfeasance is significantly reduced.
This important move by the CAC is expected to increase transparency in company ownership and strengthen the fight against corrupt practices in Nigeria.
