The federal government has announced that Nigerians wouldn’t be able to start businesses without the National Identification Number.
Alhaji Garba Abubakar, the registrar of the Corporate Affairs Commission, made this announcement on Monday in Abuja at the monthly reform seminar hosted by the Bureau of Public Service Reform.
He stated that it is crucial to check the accuracy of the data they are gathering.
At the lecture under the theme “Current Reforms, Innovations and Challenges of the Corporate Affairs Commission and Their Impact on the Growth of the Nigerian Economy,” Abubakar said: “If you don’t have a NIN, it means you can’t register your company, The essence is to verify the integrity of the data we are collecting.”
In contrast to the National Identity card, passport, and driver’s license, which are all easily duplicatable, he continued, the CAC chose NIN because its security cannot be compromised.
“As such, we register an average of 2,000 companies every week. But it’s not just enough to register, you have to file your returns,” he added.
”As it stands, one man can register and own a company and if he is dead his children can take over for as long as the company is surviving and there are interests.
“In fact, before now, many people were forced to register their companies with a second party just to fulfil legal requirements, but with CAMA, all that is in the past.”
He continued by saying that the act also created limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships, which now give businesspeople and legal firms more options.
He added that the CAC registration portal had been totally revamped after the act’s implementation to enable businesses to do transactions there from anywhere.
The CAC manager announced that in order to minimize direct contact with employees, they have started a mailing system for clients to complete their registration.
“Now from anywhere in the world, you can register your company; all you need is to create an account, whether individual or corporate. After all the processes, we will send your certificate to you,” he assured.
