The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) has announced an end to the repeated submission of financial statements by companies to different government agencies and regulators, following the launch of a national repository for audited financial statements.
FRC Chief Executive Officer, Rabiu Olowo, disclosed this during the official commissioning of the Council’s new headquarters in Lagos. The building 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 will 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.
“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.
“But today, that cannot happen any longer. We have a national repository for financial statements in Nigeria.”
According to Olowo, the national repository is one of several reforms introduced by the Council since 2023 under its transformation agenda, which focuses on “good governance, increased transparency and excellent stability and enforcement.”
He said the FRC had also “strengthened audit regulation through comprehensive practice reviews, commenced implementation and enforcement in non-financial reporting, introduced the Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations, NOCLAR, framework and strengthened valuation regulation.
“We have expanded our regulatory reach. We have integrated our database with the National Identification Number verification system,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Vice President Shettima said stronger institutions are crucial to attracting investment and building confidence in the economy.
“Capital is a cautious traveller. Money does not follow security alone; it follows confidence. And confidence follows institutions,” he said.
He added: “Transformation cannot be sustained by policies alone. We must build institutions capable of carrying those policies beyond individual personalities and political cycles.”
Also speaking, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, stressed the importance of regulatory certainty to Nigeria’s competitiveness and investment climate.
“Investors understand commercial risk. They assess it, price it and make decisions accordingly. It is much harder to price regulatory uncertainty,” she said.
According to Oduwole, “predictability, transparency and efficient administration are not simply conveniences for businesses.
They are fundamental components of national competitiveness.”
Olowo said the commissioning of the new headquarters represents a significant milestone for the FRC, which evolved from the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board established in 1982.
“Today, the Council has a home,” he said. “This building belongs not to one Executive Secretary or CEO, not to one board, not even to the minister or the President. It belongs to Nigeria.”
