From the corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), came a startling revelation that most of the firms in Nigeria were 'briefcase companies' that did not have any credible contact addresses.

The disclosure came during a review of firms' compliance level to the provision of Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA, recently. The development, according to the Director, Compliance, of the commission, Mr. Bello Mahmud, had negatively affected the efforts of CAC to monitor the activities of such companies.

Speaking at the second yearly training for journalists in Jos, Mahmud urged agencies where such companies went for contract to verify their legal status before dealing with them. He noted that it was illegal to operate without an address. He said: "It is the job of the agencies where such companies are seeking contracts to confirm if they exist of not. The agencies need to confirm if such companies have filled their annual returns up to date and have verifiable addresses, among others.

"Henceforth, we will ensure that addresses given by companies seeking registration are confirmed before they are registered. We have carried out investigations on some of these companies and have realised that they hide under the status of not having an office to do all manners of illegitimate businesses.

"Only recently, we sanctioned a number of companies for flaunting the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). We are partnering with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the police to carry out surveillance on the operations of companies operating in Nigeria. As in the past, companies found wanting will be prosecuted accordingly."

On the recent delisting of dormant companies, he noted that a total of 9,351 companies were delisted at the first batch."As part of the reforms at the CAC, we have delisted 9, 351 companies so far. The names of the affected companies have been sent to government press and a gazette will be ready soon."

He said of the process: "The process of striking off defaulting companies from the registry is complex. We will follow it through within the ambits of the law. 400, 000 companies have never filled in their annual returns. A total of 280, 000 have gotten their letters. Many of the companies did not have addresses and their letters were returned undelivered."

He also gave an insight into why the commission did not join in the investigation of Cadbury Nigeria for the financial crisis it was embedded in some time ago. He added: "We didn't want to duplicate functions. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was already in the process of investigating the issue. Since we do similar work, we allowed them. It is the same process."

Source: Guardian