CAC Blocks Fraudsters From Cloning Name Of Existing Companies During Registration

The Corporate Affairs Commission said it has blocked many suspected fraudulent applications aimed at registering new companies similar to existing ones by some Nigerians trying to take over lands that belong to others.

The Registrar-General of the Commission, Garba Abubakar, who stated this at a Customers’/Stakeholders Forum said the measure was to further boost the present administration’s fight against corruption.

Abubakar stated that recently, the Commission had been recording high incidence of applications with names that were closely similar to existing names.

He stressed that the Commission would continue to remain vigilant to ensure that fraudsters don’t take over other peoples’ land

He further stated that the Commission had upon the commencement of the implementation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 invoked the provision of Data Privacy and Protection Act to eliminate incidences of presenting cloned signatures to the CAC for registration purposes.

The Registrar-General explained further that in line with relevant provisions, the Commission discontinued the issuance of certified true copies of some documents, noting that certified extracts had replaced CTCs in accordance with provisions of the law.

He lamented that in spite of the provisions of the Data Privacy and Protection Act, some customers have yet to accept the new arrangement which was invoked to amongst others to check fraud in line with provisions of the law.

While speaking further on the ongoing reform initiatives, the Registrar-General said the Commission was reviewing its checklist for some services and assured that next year, the CAC will deploy a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

The system, according to him, will assist the commission in resolving customer challenges real-time.

He used the forum to caution accredited agents against sharing details about their CAC Portals to enable them guard against fraud.

The CAC Boss also revealed that the Commission had completed work on the Insolvency Framework and will soon expose the regulation to the public via its website.

Abubakar noted the support and cooperation of stakeholders particularly the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) and enjoined Customers to continue to cooperate with the Commission as it continues to improve on its operations to deliver better services in accordance with global best practices.

In a goodwill message, the Vice Chairman of the NBA-SBL, Dr. Adeoye Adefulu applauded the Commission’s resolve to organize the forum and urged it to sustain the tempo.

He, therefore, stressed the need for the Commission to ensure continuous engagement with stakeholders as well as enhance its communication strategy for the benefit of both parties.