CAC Advocates for Centralized Ownership Database in Nigeria

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is advocating for the harmonization and centralization of Nigeria’s beneficial ownership registers to address gaps that facilitate illicit financial flows, money laundering, and misuse of corporate structures. Hussaini Magaji, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive of the CAC, made this statement during a training session on the Beneficial Ownership Register for journalists and civil society organizations in Abuja.

The CAC aims to create a central corporate data backbone that links beneficial ownership information from various regulatory systems, emphasizing that information should not exist in silos. Currently, the CAC maintains a Beneficial Ownership Register, while the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative manage ownership information for entities in Free Trade Zones and extractive industries, respectively.

Magaji clarified that the proposed harmonization would not eliminate the statutory responsibilities of these organizations but would enhance interoperability and establish common standards for ownership information.