At least five companies listed as “inactive” on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) portal received a combined N2.6 billion in federal government contracts and contract-related payments between May and June 2026, raising questions about compliance checks in the award and payment of public contracts.
An analysis of federal government payment records published on Govspend shows that Fairdeals Associates Limited, A.A.J. Global Resources Limited, E.O.G Global Services Limited, Ada Abdulrahman Global Investment Limited and Legend Otolorin Construction Limited were among companies listed as inactive on the CAC portal while receiving substantial payments from federal ministries, agencies and government institutions.
The records show that Fairdeals Associates Limited received three payments totalling N449.5 million from the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta between May and June 2026.
On June 19, 2026, the company received N339.03 million as payment for the “conduct of capacity building training for 120 PAP stakeholders (batch 3)” held in Abuja between March 23 and April 10, 2026.
The same office also paid Fairdeals Associates N55.23 million on June 19 for “stakeholder and strategic internal security engagement in the Niger Delta region (Bayelsa and Rivers States) for the month of May 2026.”
Earlier, on May 11, the company received N55.23 million for “stakeholders and strategic internal security engagement for Niger Delta region (Bayelsa and Rivers) respectively under the PAP for the month of April 2026.”
A.A.J. Global Resources Limited, also listed as inactive on the CAC portal, received two federal payments totalling N368.34 million in June.
The Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority paid the company N259.29 million on June 18 for the “establishment and equipping of veterinary clinic/insemination centers within pastoralist communities in Sokoto State.”
On the same day, the Nigeria Immigration Service paid the company N109.04 million as part payment for the “construction and fencing (412m perimeter) of barracks for officers and men at Greater Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”
Another inactive company, E.O.G Global Services Limited, received N132.95 million from the National Rural Electrification Agency on June 18.
The payment was tied to procurement and installation of 300/500 KVA transformers in Surulere-Itire community in Lagos State under contract reference REA/CP/2024/A092.
Ada Abdulrahman Global Investment Limited, also listed as inactive on the CAC portal, received three payments from the Federal Medical Centre, Kebbi State, amounting to N866.72 million.
The records show that the company received N162.99 million for the supply of hospital equipment and furniture, N399.47 million for infrastructure upgrade at Kalgo, and another N304.26 million for infrastructure upgrade.
Legend Otolorin Construction Limited, likewise listed as inactive on the CAC portal, received N788.72 million in payments from three federal institutions in May and June.
The Energy Commission of Nigeria paid the company N136.29 million on June 18 as a 30 percent mobilisation fee for the provision of 11 transformers for rural electrification across Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency in Benue State.
On May 10, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security paid N248.48 million, representing 30 percent payment of an approved sum of N917.92 million for the construction of surface dressing at Biyak to Kadarko in Plateau State.
The Federal Ministry of Works also paid the company N403.95 million on May 9 as part payment for the completion of the Sanusi Nasarawa Library Building in Kano State, described as the first tranche.
The payments bring the combined value of the transactions involving the five companies to approximately N2.606 billion within the two-month period.
The findings raise questions about how the companies’ corporate status was considered during procurement, contract award, mobilisation and payment processes, particularly if the CAC portal displayed them as inactive at the time of the transactions.
The CAC is Nigeria’s official corporate registry and provides a company-search service through which the public can verify a company’s registration status and other corporate information.
An “inactive” status on the CAC portal does not necessarily mean that a company has been formally dissolved or struck off the register. The status can reflect regulatory non-compliance, including issues relating to filings annual returns.
CAC has stated that failure to comply with statutory requirements can result in a company’s status being reflected as “inactive” on its online portals, and that non-compliance with annual-return requirements can expose companies to penalties and the risk of being struck off the register.
CAC has also clarified that companies actually struck off the register are deemed dissolved from the date of publication, and that it is illegal to enter into transactions or deal with a company that has been dissolved.
The transactions highlight the need for greater transparency around procurement records, particularly where large public funds are paid to companies whose corporate records on the official registry indicate an inactive status.
In July, the Corporate Affairs Commission announced that it had commenced moves to strike off 100,000 companies from its register.
This followed the firms’ failure to file outstanding annual returns and other statutory documents.
The Commission disclosed this in a public notice signed by its management.
It said the exercise, tagged Batch 6, was being carried out pursuant to Section 692 (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020.
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