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OVERVIEW
On 8 July 2026, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) issued a Public Notice putting all companies registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA) on formal notice that, with effect from 1 August 2026, it will enforce the statutory requirements governing the particulars that must appear on company business letters, with sanctions for non-compliance.
These requirements have been in force since the enactment of CAMA in 2020. What has changed is the Commission's enforcement posture. The Public Notice signals a deliberate shift from a largely dormant statutory obligation to active regulatory enforcement. Companies have just over three weeks from the date of the notice to bring their business letterheads and related correspondence into compliance.
LEGAL BASIS
The notice is grounded in Section 304 of CAMA 2020, which requires every company to state, in legible characters, specified particulars of its directors on its business letters.
Although the Commission has not specified the nature or extent of the sanctions that may be imposed, companies should not assume that non-compliance will attract only nominal consequences or that any further grace period will be granted beyond the stated commencement date.
SCOPE OF APPLICATION
The notice applies to every company registered under CAMA 2020, without distinction as to size, sector, or ownership structure.
The notice addresses business letters specifically. It should be noted that Section 729(1)(c) of CAMA imposes a related, wider-reaching obligation, covering invoices, receipts, notices, and other official publications, which many companies overlook. This is addressed further in the Note below.
KEY REQUIREMENTS
With effect from 1 August 2026, every business letter issued by a company registered under CAMA 2020 must state, in legible characters:
- The company's name
- The company's registration number
- The present forename or the initials and present surname of every director
- Any former forename and surname of every director, and
- The nationality of every non-Nigerian director.
Companies found issuing business letters without these particulars will be exposed to sanctions under the Act. We recommend closing out any gaps now rather than waiting to see how strictly the Commission enforces this in practice.
IMMEDIATE NEXT STEPS
Before the deadline, we recommend that companies:
- Review current business letterheads and email signature blocks used in official correspondence for completeness against the five particulars listed above.
- Confirm that the registered company name and registration number on all letterhead templates match the company's current CAC records.
- Update the register of directors to ensure current names, any former names, and nationalities are accurately captured and reflected on business letters.
- Where directors have resigned, been appointed, or changed names since letterheads were last produced, revise all templates accordingly.
- Circulate updated templates across departments and, where applicable, subsidiaries or group entities to ensure consistent use ahead of the enforcement date.
CONCLUSION
The Commission's Public Notice should be viewed as an indication that compliance with long-standing corporate disclosure obligations will now be subject to greater regulatory scrutiny. Companies should therefore take immediate steps to review their business correspondence and related templates before the enforcement date.
Our Corporate Services and Data Protection Practice Group is available to assist with reviewing existing corporate stationery, updating statutory disclosures, advising on compliance with CAMA requirements and conducting broader corporate governance compliance reviews.
NOTE
Separately from this notice, Section 729(1)(c) of CAMA 2020 already requires every company to display its name and registration number, though not director particulars, across a wider range of documents, including notices, advertisements, invoices, and receipts. This is a longstanding, independent obligation, and one we frequently find overlooked. Companies undertaking the review above may find it efficient to address both at once.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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