By Ngozi Onyeakusi—The need for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to comply with various government directives took centre stage at the just concluded 2-day Stakeholders’ sensitization and building workshop on fiscal and technical opportunities for mutual economic growth of SMEs and private corporations held in Lagos.

Experts who spoke at the event, which was orgnized by the Civil Society Legislative Centre (CISLAC), in partnership with the Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (NASME) and OXFAM
urged the MSMEs to ensure total compliance with the government directives so as to run their business in line with best practices and standard to enable them take advantage of numerous opportunities available for them.

Presenting a paper titled, Ease of Doing Business, Registration Process and Beneficial Ownership Regulation for MSMEs, the Technical Assistant to the Registra General, Corporate Affairs Commission ( CAC) Mr Sani Auwal Ibrahim enjoined the MSMEs to register with CAC adding that the registration would afford them the opportunity of being recognised by the government.
He noted that registration with the CAC offered them a lot of benefits from the government.
He said , “When you register your company with the government, the safety of the company is assured, your company will enjoy perpetual succession. If you want your business to out live you, register it”, he assured.
Ibrahim, who was represented by Garba Abubakar of the commission stated that registration of a company with CAC took only 48 hours even as he urged them to register their comp­anies themselves.

Similarly, a Senior Manager, Large Tax Audit Department, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Mr Onyekachi Iheme urged MSMEs ensure compliance with the FIRS directives especially in area of tax payment.
Dwelling on the topic; Tax Right and Duties for MSMEs, Iheme noted that compliant companies are always rewarded while the errant ones are sanctioned.
He pointed out that compliance to the government directives remained a way of telling the government that the their business was still alive.