Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has issued a revised timeline for companies to submit their annual returns, extending the deadline for submission from January 1, to April 1, 2024.
The Commission in a statement dated Thursday, December 28, 2023, explained that the extension became necessary due to “the glitches presently experienced on the company’s registration portal (CRP) as well as a deference to the Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) sector.”
The CAC had earlier released a circular, indicating their resolve to delist 91,843 companies by January 1, 2024, for neglecting to submit their annual returns to the Commission.
“Further to its earlier notice on Thursday, November 2, 2023, informing the General Public that it shall commence the full application of the penalties prescribed by the Companies and Allied Matters Acts 2020 and the Companies Registrations 2021 against Companies and each of their Directors or Officers for failures to file annual returns, the Commission hereby extends the commencement date from January 1, 2024, to April 1, 2024.”
The recent extension indicates that the penalties have been put on hold as the deadline has moved from January 1, 2023, to April 1, 2024.
In the new circular, the CAC urged companies to take advantage of the window provided by the extension to file their annual returns with the Commission.
On this, the circular read in part: “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.”
The Commission however warned that the extension would not nullify other proceedings already embarked on by it. “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, November 2, 2023.”
