CAC remitted N56.38bn to Nigerian govt despite revenue constraints — Magaji

The Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, remitted N56.384 billion to the Federal Government between 2022 and 2025 despite operating under significant revenue constraints caused by government fiscal policies, the Registrar-General of the commission, Ishaq Hussaini Magaji, has said.

Mr Magaji disclosed this on Monday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance during an investigative session on the remittance of operating surplus by government-owned enterprises.

He said the remittances comprised N55.65 billion deducted directly by the Federal Government and an additional N734 million paid by the commission through other remittances.

According to him, the CAC’s ability to sustain the remittances was despite the financial pressure created by the Federal Government’s 50-50 revenue deduction policy and the ease of doing business reforms, which reduced the commission’s service fees by 50 per cent.

Mr Magaji explained that the commission is a fully self-funded government-owned enterprise that relies entirely on internally generated revenue while remitting 50 per cent of its earnings to the Federal Government as advance payment, pending the determination of its actual operating surplus in line with the Finance Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

He said the policies significantly reduced the commission’s revenue and made it difficult to meet operational costs, staff obligations and outstanding remittance commitments.

The registrar-general, however, said reforms introduced by the current management had strengthened the commission’s financial position.

He disclosed that the CAC’s annual revenue increased from N14 billion in 2022 to N52.89 billion in 2025, representing a 253 per cent growth.

“Our revenue base has now grown to a sustainable level, enabling us to comply with the 50-50 deductions requirement, meet our operational expenditures, and develop a structured plan to clear all our outstanding obligations,” he said.

Mr Magaji announced that the commission had adopted a structured repayment plan under which it would remit N500 million every quarter until all outstanding liabilities were settled.

He added that, as a demonstration of its commitment to the repayment plan, the commission remitted N489 million on Monday.

The registrar-general also said the CAC had yet to receive the Treasury receipt for the automatic deduction of about N24 billion relating to the 2021 fiscal year, explaining that reconciliation with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation was still ongoing.

The clarification followed allegations by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC, that the CAC owed about N13.9 billion in unremitted operating surplus between 2023 and 2025.

Following the submissions, the Senate Committee on Finance directed the CAC, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the committee’s secretariat to reconcile their records and submit a report within two weeks to establish the actual outstanding liability.