• The Corporate Affairs Commission disclosed that it will shut its portal from April 17 to April 20, 2026
• The commission said the shutdown is for scheduled maintenance and system upgrades as reports emerged that about 25 million documents may have been exfiltrated from CAC systems
• The National Information Technology Development Agency has activated coordinated cybersecurity measures with CAC

The Corporate Affairs Commission has announced a temporary shutdown of its online portal from April 17 to April 20, 2026, as it carries out scheduled maintenance and system upgrades.

The commission disclosed this in a public notice issued on April 17, informing users that the platform may be unavailable throughout the maintenance period.

The planned shutdown comes amid reports of a cybersecurity incident affecting parts of the commission’s systems.

Concerns have also emerged over claims that nearly 25 million documents may have been extracted from CAC infrastructure.

According to the commission, the maintenance exercise is intended to improve service delivery and enhance user experience.

“To serve you better, we will be carrying out scheduled maintenance on our portal this weekend, from 12:00 midnight today, 17th April 2026, to 6:00 a.m. on Monday, 20th April 2026. During this period, the portal may be temporarily unavailable.

“We regret any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding,” they stated.

The commission later confirmed that there had been unauthorised access to parts of its systems, raising concerns about the safety of sensitive corporate records and personal information.

Following the incident, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission launched a formal investigation into the suspected data breach.

The NDPC said its investigation would focus on access control systems, data privacy impact assessments, vulnerability testing, and third-party data processing practices.

The agency said the move is part of broader efforts to strengthen data protection safeguards.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NDPC, Vincent Olatunji, directed the agency’s technical team to work with relevant authorities and organisations to improve existing data protection measures.

Meanwhile, the National Information Technology Development Agency said it had activated coordinated cybersecurity measures with CAC.

It also directed government agencies to review their security systems, fix vulnerabilities, and strengthen monitoring and incident response processes.

The commission had digitised its operations in 2025 to improve service delivery. In July 2025, it launched an AI-powered portal designed to speed up approvals and issue registration certificates in less than 30 minutes after NIN verification.

The platform marked a major shift from manual, office-based registration processes to a fully digital system.

As part of efforts to clean up its database, the commission also removed 247 companies for using fake Registered Certificate numbers.

By February 2026, CAC revealed that it was processing as many as 10,000 business registration requests every day after deploying artificial intelligence across its platforms.

According to the Registrar-General, Hussaini Magaji, the commission’s system also handles an average of 5,000 customer enquiries daily through email and call centres.

CAC to offer free registration for 3,500 small businesses nationwide

Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) had unveiled a nationwide initiative to register 3,500 small businesses free of charge across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The commission’s Registrar-General, Hussaini Magaji, explained that the programme is intended to ease the financial burden of business formalisation for micro and small enterprises while motivating more entrepreneurs to operate within the formal sector.