The head of Nigerian companies’ registry, CAC, Garba Abubakar, has said the organisation raked in more than N19 billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) last year.

Mr. Abubakar made this known in an interview with NAN on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to him, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected economic activities, the commission recorded an increase in the registration of businesses and other corporate entities during the year.

“The year 2020 was one of our best years in terms of revenue generation as we recorded a surge in registration above the previous year.

“We had a revenue target of N18.2 billion, but we closed here with over N19 billion.

“For the first time in the last 10 years, we are able to give more money to the Federal Government in terms of operation surplus,” he said.

The commission hopes to surpass the N20 billion revenue target this year by leveraging on electronic systems transactions for most of its operations, Mr. Abubakar said.

Mr. Abubakar, who was appointed to head the CAC on January 7, 2020 by President Muhammadu Buhari, said the commission had undergone some reforms in the past one year.

The commission has embedded the FIRS Tax Identification Number (TIN) on the certificate of registration for companies through the existing FIRS stamp duty portal.

Implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA 2020) has also begun with the introduction of a new self-service portal that allowed for end-to-end electronic submission by customers.

The Registrar-General, however, noted that inherited financial liabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic were some of the challenges he faced in steering the affairs of the organization in the past year.

“The challenges we had last year were the inherited liabilities, as I took over with over N6 billion liabilities, and also had challenges of service delivery because of the COVID-19 restrictions,” he said.

Mr. Abubakar said that part of the commission’s agenda for 2021 was to build stronger collaborations with relevant agencies and intensify the enforcement of the provisions of the new CAMA.

He tasked all registered entities on compliance with the new law in terms of filing their annual returns and other statutory duties to the commission.

According to him, with the new law it is now easier for companies to file their returns without going through any lawyer, accountant or chartered secretary.

“With the new portal a company can decide to have its own electronic account that will allow it to make all its fillings directly.

“The new portal also shows at a glance the status of  a company, whether it is active, dormant, receivership or liquidation.

“We have given access to most government agencies and foreign missions in Nigeria to confirm the status of companies and we will continue to do that.

“Before they deal with any registered company, they will verify if such company is actually an active company and whether the information provided by such company is consistent with the CAC records,” he said.

Mr. Abubakar said the commission was working out modalities for granting amnesty on annual returns to companies and other registered entities and it would be announced before the end of the first quarter of this year. 

NAN