by Wasilat Azeez
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) says it has completed the incorporation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The incorporation of a company refers to the legal process used to form a corporate entity.
Checks showed that Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was incorporated on September 22, 2021, with the registration number: RC — 1843987.
Two weeks ago, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the incorporation of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The directive was in accordance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Garba Abubakar, registrar-general of the CAC, confirmed the incorporation on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking at the quarterly meeting of heads of agencies in the federal ministry of industry, trade and investment.
Section 53(1) of PIA 2021 requires the minister of petroleum resources to cause for the incorporation of the NNPC Limited within six months of the enactment of the PIA in consultation with the minister of finance on the nominal shares of the company.
As a limited liability company, NNPC will be required to pay taxes and dividends to its shareholders.
Abubakar said that the registration was completed the same day after fulfilling all requirements set for the incorporation of the NNPC Limited.
The CAC boss also updated the gathering on the digitisation of the trademark and patent registry which was being done by the CAC to ensure synergy and eliminate possible conflicts.
He explained that the digitisation project was awaiting approval from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
On the free registration of 250,000 business names sponsored by the federal government, Abubakar said that despite delay from one of the selected aggregators, the commission had less than 3,000 applications to complete the project.
He said the commission would ensure completion by the first week of October 2021.