By Oluwakemi Kindness
The Corporate Affairs Commission, Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, has called for a single national framework linking Nigeria’s three beneficial ownership registers, warning that fragmented systems could weaken transparency and accountability.
The CAC Registrar-General and Chief Executive, Hussaini Ishaq-Magaji, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, at a stakeholder workshop for journalists and civil society organisations on beneficial ownership disclosure and the Beneficial Ownership Register.
He explained that Nigeria currently operates three separate systems: “the CAC’s Beneficial Ownership Register, ownership information for entities in Free Trade Zones maintained under the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, and the beneficial ownership information held by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI”.
Ishaq-Magaji said the three systems seek similar information on who owns, controls and benefits from an entity, including the individuals behind corporate structures.
He advised that Nigeria should connect the registers through common standards and a coordinated national framework, with the CAC corporate registry serving as the central corporate data backbone.
Ishaq-Magaji stressed that the proposal would not remove the statutory responsibilities of NEPZA or NEITI, rather the system should connect information held by the institutions and prevent beneficial ownership data from remaining in separate regulatory silos.
“Transparency works best when information can be connected,” he said.
The CAC boss urged journalists and civil society organisations to advocate interoperability among the registers, common standards, reduced duplication and wider access to beneficial ownership information, while protecting privacy and complying with data protection requirements.
According to him, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have used beneficial ownership information in investigations and enforcement activities.
He noted that investigators can use the information to trace corporate ownership structures, follow transactions and identify individuals linked to assets under investigation.
He urged users to verify information independently and report findings accurately and responsibly.
Magaji also said access to beneficial ownership information through the CAC is free, describing the register as a public transparency tool rather than an inaccessible government database.
