Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced a record-breaking 11,000 company registrations in a single day, following the rollout of its AI-powered Intelligent Company Registration Portal (iCRP). The commission, which previously processed registrations over the course of a week, also revealed that 8,000 name reservation requests were handled on July 16 alone—an exercise that used to take two weeks. Despite these numbers, many users say the platform has been marred by unresolved payment issues, delays, and inaccessible services.
The iCRP was launched on July 1 as a replacement for the CAC’s older Company Registration Portal (CRP), promising instant name reservations, one-hour company registrations, and automated tax ID (TIN) generation. But since the transition, business owners and accredited agents have faced mounting issues. “I paid for a registration but can’t verify the payment,” lamented Olamide Egbetola, a regulatory compliance expert for small businesses. Similar frustrations were echoed by Ibrahim Salisu, a CAC-accredited agent, who noted that TINs are not being generated and customer service has gone silent.
Unlike other public agency tech upgrades—such as the Nigeria Immigration Service’s passport portal which returned to normal after 72 hours—the CAC’s transition has no clear timeline for completion. The commission had notified users of the upgrade but did not provide a schedule for full restoration. For many, the result has been disrupted operations and delayed filings. Abuja-based legal practitioner June Etim Idan confirmed that while the old portal had late-night reliability, the current upgrade has made things worse. “The new system is slower and unpredictable,” she said.
In response to widespread user complaints, the CAC posted on X that it is aware of the glitches and is working to optimise the platform. It reaffirmed its commitment to becoming “a champion of service delivery,” but gave no firm date for when the portal would function without disruption. For now, while the numbers suggest a breakthrough in digital registration, the lived experience of many users tells a story of a system still struggling to deliver on its promise.