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The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has announced plans to deploy an Artificial Intelligence (AI) agent to address a backlog of more than 7,000 company registration applications and ease service delays. Registrar-General and CEO of the CAC, Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, SAN, disclosed this on Monday in Kano during a stakeholders’ forum. He explained that the AI agent will be deployed to handle requests across compliance, registry, and customer service functions with speed and accuracy, thereby tackling challenges that have slowed down service delivery. “In a bid to tackle the backlog of 7,000 registration applications, an AI agent was in the pipeline to handle requests across compliance, registry, and customer service with speed and accuracy,” the Commission said in a statement quoting the Registrar-General. Bumpy Transition to AI Portal Magaji admitted that the transition to the Commission’s AI-driven portal has been less than smooth, with many customers experiencing delays in approvals, particularly for services not covered in the first phase of deployment. He attributed most of the delays to the overwhelming number of applications that the new system has had to process. Read Also: CAC Defers Implementation of Revised Service Fees to October 1st The CAC boss added that AI will also be deployed to manage the high volume of daily inquiries received by the Commission. According to him, the system receives no fewer than 3,000 emails per day, and the AI tool being developed is capable of reading and comprehending those emails within a minute, detecting duplicate requests, and rerouting messages to the appropriate departments for faster resolution. Magaji reassured stakeholders that the Commission is working to stabilize its newly introduced AI portal and improve customer satisfaction. “Problems have been identified, and solutions are already in motion,” he said. Backstory The CAC had earlier in June launched its AI-driven registration portal, aimed at transforming Nigeria’s business environment by simplifying company registration processes and accelerating approvals. The new platform, described by the Commission as a complete overhaul of its Company Registration Portal (CRP), was programmed to provide instant name approvals and suggest alternatives when preferred names are unavailable. Magaji had explained that name reservations under the new system would be as seamless as opening an email account, with AI ensuring real-time approvals. However, users of the portal have faced significant challenges, ranging from failed payment reflections to difficulties submitting documents. These glitches contributed to the backlog the Commission is now seeking to clear. Despite the challenges, the CAC announced in July that the portal was processing over 11,000 transactions daily, describing the development as a major leap in automation, albeit one that still requires adjustments to function smoothly.

The leadership of the 10th Senate has once again adjusted its legislative calendar, shifting the official resumption of plenary sittings from September 23 to October 7, 2025. The latest postponement was contained in an internal memo signed by Chinedu Akubueze, Chief of Staff to the Senate President, and circulated to journalists on Monday. The extension, which prolongs the chamber’s annual recess by an additional two weeks, has generated mixed reactions within the National Assembly. No official reason was given, but sources told our correspondent that the delay was intended to allow lawmakers fully observe the October 1 Independence Day celebrations. Read Also: Ganduje Leads Prayer Session as 280 Converts Join Islam in Kano In the memo titled “Notice of Shift in Plenary Resumption Date,” Akubueze apologised to senators for the late communication. “This is to respectfully inform Distinguished Senators that the resumption of plenary sitting of the Senate, earlier scheduled for Tuesday, 23rd September, 2025, has been shifted to Tuesday, 7th October, 2025. Any inconvenience this short notice may cause is deeply regretted. Distinguished Senators are kindly invited to note the postponement and adjust their schedules accordingly,” the memo read in part. The Senate had adjourned plenary on July 24 for its annual recess. At the time, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the decision as an act of “chamber reciprocity,” noting that members of the House of Representatives had also embarked on a break in line with the legislative calendar. With the latest adjustment, critical debates and pending motions — including oversight inquiries into government spending and executive appointments — will remain on hold.

The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, on Thursday inaugurated the newly completed centralised passport personalisation centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Sauka, Abuja. He said the facility will revolutionise passport production and eliminate delays for Nigerians at home and abroad. Speaking after an inspection, the minister explained that the project — now fully completed — delivers on the administration’s pledge to centralise passport personalisation and production in line with global best practices. Read Also: 2027: Kabir Abubakar Bichi as alternative Kano guber candidate FG Approves 7MW Solarization to Cut AKTH’s N200m Monthly Power Bill NIS Raises Nigerian Passport Application Fees, Effective September 1st “Previously, Nigeria operated about 96 personalisation centres across the country and abroad, perhaps only comparable to China. For perspective, the United States has only two, the United Kingdom one, France three, Bangladesh one, and India one. Centralisation ensures higher quality, better control, and greater efficiency in passport production,” Tunji-Ojo said. He described the old decentralised system as inefficient and prone to duplication, saying the unified model was designed to improve security and service delivery. According to him, the new machines can produce up to 1,000 passports per hour, with a daily capacity of between 4,500 and 5,000, compared to the previous 250–300 daily per machine. Applicants with approved requests can now expect their passports to be printed within 24 hours. The minister also announced that the reform had unified the Nigerian passport series into a single regime, eliminating duplication and strengthening the integrity of travel documents. He further disclosed that Nigeria had fully migrated to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKI-PKD), which authenticates travel documents globally and boosts the credibility of Nigerian passports. Highlighting the impact of the reforms, Tunji-Ojo recalled that the administration inherited a backlog of 204,000 passports. “With this facility, the era of backlogs is over. Personalisation is now automated, eliminating the need for officers to work round the clock or manually correct errors,” he said. He noted that this was the first time since the establishment of the NIS in 1963 that Nigeria would have a world-class centralised personalisation centre comparable to those in the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, India, and Bangladesh. The minister commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support, as well as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, the Comptroller-General of Immigration, officers of the NIS, and technical partner IRIS SMART Technologies Limited, for their collaboration. He assured Nigerians that the reform would drastically reduce waiting times. “Where people used to wait days or weeks, passports can now be processed in hours. We promised two weeks’ delivery; we are already working towards achieving one week or less,” Tunji-Ojo said. On passport fees, he stressed that Nigerians were now getting value for money through faster, more secure, and reliable services. Tunji-Ojo described the initiative as a major milestone for the Tinubu administration and a demonstration of its commitment to reform, efficiency, and improved service delivery.