Enhancing beneficial ownership data collection and use in Nigeria

Executive summary

Nigeria has demonstrated exceptional leadership in corporate transparency by becoming the first country in Africa to establish a comprehensive, publicly accessible, and free Beneficial Ownership (BO) Register, built with the guidance of the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard (BODS). [1] This follows the establishment of a legal framework through the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020. [2]

The launch of the Persons with Significant Control (PSC) Register in May 2023 represents a landmark achievement in the nation’s commitment to combating corruption and enhancing corporate governance. [3] This robust digital platform provides a secure application programming interface (API) and login access to law enforcement agencies (LEAs), and it collects BO information in line with its defined 5% ownership threshold. This forward momentum significantly contributed to Nigeria’s successful exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025, a testament to strong political will and effective inter-agency coordination. [4] Many agencies, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), have already demonstrated the practical value of beneficial ownership transparency (BOT) through the successful use of BO information for investigations and enforcement actions.

While Nigeria’s achievements are substantial, several strategic opportunities exist to maximise the impact of the BO Register and strengthen its corporate transparency ecosystem. These are succinctly summarised below but expanded on in greater detail in the report.

• Maximising the use of BO data through a whole-of-government approach: BO data could be used more systematically across government, particularly in tax administration, procurement, financial intelligence, licensing, and investigations. Cross-referencing BO information with sanctions, procurement, tax, and licensing data would help move Nigeria’s BO framework from disclosure towards more proactive and intelligence-led use.
• Enhancing data quality through verification and systematic feedback mechanisms: Strengthening identity verification through more stable National Identity Number (NIN) checks and access to other relevant government-held datasets would improve data quality. [5] At the same time, structured feedback channels are needed so that LEAs and other agencies such as the NFIU and NRS can report discrepancies and data-quality concerns back to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
• Optimising multi-sector registers through strategic coordination: Multiple agencies currently collect BO data, but the cross-checking value of these parallel registers is not yet being realised in practice. Standardising BO data requirements as well as strengthening coordination and interoperability between registers would reduce duplication, ease reporting burdens, and improve verification.
• Building institutional capacity: A dedicated BO unit within the CAC would strengthen ownership verification, discrepancy resolution, and stakeholder coordination. This could be complemented by a cross-agency operational working group and continuous capacity-building to improve implementation across the ecosystem.
• Measuring and demonstrating impact through real-world success: Nigeria could more systematically track and communicate how BO data is being used in practice. This would help demonstrate the value of the framework for domestic accountability, support FATF reporting, and provide stronger evidence of impact for development partners.

More holistically, this report provides a comprehensive assessment of Nigeria’s BOT implementation. It identifies strategic opportunities for enhancement, and offers actionable recommendations to institutionalise current gains, strengthen data integrity, and maximise the register’s impact on anti-corruption and governance efforts.

Next page: Part 1: Nigeria’s beneficial ownership journey