The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has announced the end of multiple submissions of financial statements by companies to government agencies and regulators.
The development follows the launch of a national repository designed to centralise audited financial statements submitted by businesses.
FRC Chief Executive Officer, Rabiu Olowo, disclosed this during the commissioning of the Council’s new headquarters in Lagos.
The new facility was commissioned by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who was represented at the event by his Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Dr Tope Fasua.
Olowo explained that companies would no longer need to submit separate copies of their financial statements to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), FRC, Accountant-General of the Federation and relevant sector regulators.
He said businesses previously had to prepare and submit the same financial information separately to several government bodies.
“Before now, you had companies and some of them are here that would submit one financial statement to the Corporate Affairs Commission, one to the FRC, another to the Accountant-General, and another to their sectoral regulator, such as the CBN,” Olowo said.
He said the new national repository would eliminate the duplication.
According to Olowo, the repository forms part of reforms introduced by the FRC since 2023 under its transformation agenda.
The agenda focuses on good governance, greater transparency, stability and stronger enforcement.
Olowo said the Council had also strengthened audit regulation through comprehensive practice reviews and begun implementing and enforcing requirements relating to non-financial reporting.
He added that the FRC had introduced the Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations (NOCLAR) framework and strengthened valuation regulation.
The Council has also expanded its regulatory reach and integrated its database with the National Identification Number verification system.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Shettima said strong institutions were crucial to attracting investment into Nigeria.
He said investors considered institutional confidence alongside security when deciding where to commit capital.
Shettima also stressed that policies alone could not sustain transformation, noting the need for institutions capable of maintaining reforms beyond individual political administrations.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, similarly said regulatory certainty was essential to Nigeria’s competitiveness.
She said investors could assess and price commercial risks, but regulatory uncertainty was more difficult to measure.
Olowo described the new headquarters as a new chapter for the FRC, which evolved from the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board established in 1982.
He said the building represented an institutional asset belonging to Nigeria rather than any individual office holder.
