The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is standing firm behind its newly introduced Intelligent Companies Registration Portal (ICRP), a digital platform powered by artificial intelligence, amid a wave of criticism from users over technical glitches and slow service.
Despite growing complaints from lawyers, business owners, and corporate agents, the CAC insists the portal is a transformative upgrade to its operations — capable of handling over 11,000 registration and compliance cases daily and processing as many as 8,000 name reservations in a single day.
In a statement released on Sunday, the Commission urged patience from the public, attributing current service hiccups to “teething challenges” common with major system overhauls.
“We are not unmindful of complaints,” the Commission said. “But we are fully committed to delivering better quality services. The portal will soon perform optimally as a true champion of service excellence.”
Previously, name reservations could take up to two weeks under the manual system, but the CAC says this same process is now handled within hours on the ICRP.
While critics say the system is riddled with login issues and delayed verifications, the CAC claims the delays are often due to external bottlenecks, particularly with identity verification services provided by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
To mitigate this, the CAC says it has adopted alternative verification technologies and is expanding its payment systems to include more gateways, ensuring faster, real-time transactions.
OTP authentication for each transaction, sent to the user’s registered email or phone.
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Automated checks to prevent third-party access or duplicate accounts.
Integrated payment processing via Remita for duties and fees.
Improved data privacy in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2023.
Despite pushback from some legal practitioners who claim the system complicates routine procedures, the CAC maintains that the ICRP reflects global standards in digital registration.
“This is a customer-centric innovation,” the statement added. “It’s built not just for speed, but for security, integrity, and future scalability.”
The Commission reports that it now receives and processes over 3,000 emails daily, a volume that led to its full automation drive.
While full system stability is still a work in progress, the CAC has reaffirmed its commitment to a smooth transition and better user experience.
“Our goal remains simple: to emplace processes and frameworks that will stand the test of time in corporate service delivery.”
As Nigeria pushes to improve its ease of doing business rankings, the success or failure of this AI-powered portal could serve as a litmus test for the broader digital transformation agenda in the country’s public sector.