Nigeria’s hard-won progress on financial transparency is facing a fresh threat as thousands of inactive companies on the platform of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) continue to operate bank accounts without restrictions, potentially undermining reforms that helped the country exit the global anti-money laundering grey list.
Findings by PREMIUM TIMES show that despite regulatory red flags, many of these entities remain fully active within the financial system, raising concerns about weak enforcement, regulatory disconnect, and the possibility that shell companies are being used for corruption, terrorism financing, procurement fraud, and illicit financial flows.
Official CAC data obtained by PREMIUM TIMES as of 14 April shows that Nigeria has 7,039,099 registered entities. Of this figure, only 3,202,042 are classified as active, while 3,688,101 are inactive companies.
Under CAC rules, a company becomes inactive when it fails to meet statutory obligations such as filing annual returns, disclosing beneficial ownership, or updating records relating to directors, addresses, or business objectives.
Regulatory and enforcement officials say the designation is more than an administrative classification just as transparency experts describe it as a major compliance and integrity risk because such entities often operate with outdated or undisclosed ownership structures.
