The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on Thursday extended the annual returns submission deadline for companies, shifting it from January 1 to April 1, 2024.
In a statement, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) explained that the extension was prompted by ongoing technical issues on the Company Registration Portal (CRP) and out of consideration for the Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) sector.
The statement also noted that this decision follows the earlier announcement on Thursday, November 2, 2023, where the CAC informed the general public about the commencement of imposing penalties, as outlined in the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 and the Companies Registrations 2021, on companies and their respective directors or officers for non-compliance with annual returns filing.
“All entities registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships, Limited Partnerships, Business Names and Incorporated Trustees) are encouraged to take advantage of the window provided by this extension to file their annual returns to date with the Commission,” CAC stated.
“The General Public should please note that this extension of time does not affect the striking-off proceedings commenced by the Commission before the publication of Thursday, 2nd of November 2023.”
The commission emphasized that henceforth, it will take action against directors and officers of delisted companies to recover outstanding penalties. Companies, along with their directors and officers, are advised to take note of this development.
For additional information and inquiries, the CAC encourages the public to visit its website at www.cac.gov.ng or reach out to the commission via email at [email protected], [email protected], or by phone at +234 708 062 9000.
In July, the commission had also warned of the potential delisting of over 100,000 inactive companies from its database due to their failure to meet compliance obligations.