*As 125 Million Unexplained Shares Appear On Registry While CAC Denies Manipulation And Blames Cyberattack
DAAR Communications Plc, the parent company of Africa Independent Television and RayPower FM, has insisted that its board has not approved any changes to the company’s shareholding structure, describing discrepancies currently reflected on the Corporate Affairs Commission’s portal as unauthorised alterations that do not align with the company’s own records, as the CAC denied manipulating the records and attributed portal irregularities to a recent cyberattack on its systems.
The dispute, which centres on the unexplained appearance of over 125 million additional shares attributed to DAAR Investment and Holding Company Limited on the CAC portal, has drawn in three regulatory bodies — the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the CAC itself and has prompted DAAR’s chairman, Raymond Dokpesi Jr., to demand an immediate forensic investigation into what he described as “serious irregularities within the corporate registry system.”
In a notification sent to the NGX and signed by Company Secretary Jennifer Egbaran, DAAR Communications stated unequivocally that the portal discrepancies are not a reflection of any legitimate corporate action.
According to DAAR Communications, the company’s verified 2024 records show DAAR Investment and Holding Company Limited holding 4,890,523,000 shares, representing 61.13 per cent of the company’s total shareholding. This position, the company insists, has not changed through any board-approved process.
However, recent entries on the CAC portal reflect an increase in DIHL’s shareholding to 5,016,418,000 shares, an unexplained rise of over 125 million shares that appeared on the registry without any corresponding share transfer, acquisition, or board resolution to justify the adjustment.
“No changes to the Company’s shareholding structure have been approved by the Board or effected through the applicable statutory processes,” DAAR Communications stated.
“Any variance currently reflected on the CAC portal does not align with the Company’s records and remains subject to ongoing review and engagement with the relevant authorities,” the company added.
The company confirmed that all its filings with the CAC have been made “in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements,” implying that whatever caused the discrepancy did not originate from the company’s own filings.
DAAR Communications disclosed that it had previously notified the NGX, the SEC, and the CAC of the discrepancies observed in its shareholding records on the CAC portal, establishing a formal trail of complaints across all three regulatory bodies with oversight of the company’s corporate governance and share registry.
“The Company had previously notified Nigerian Exchange Limited, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Corporate Affairs Commission of discrepancies observed in its shareholding records on the CAC portal,” the company stated.
The notification to the NGX is particularly significant because the NGX regulates the trading of DAAR Communications shares on the Nigerian stock exchange. Any unexplained change in the shareholding structure of a listed company could affect share prices, investor confidence, and the integrity of the market. Listed companies are required to disclose material changes in shareholding, and the appearance of 125 million unexplained shares on the registry raises questions about whether the market was trading on accurate information.
The Corporate Affairs Commission, for its part, denied allegations that it manipulated the records of DAAR Communications.
The commission described the allegations as “false and misleading,” insisting that “no company data was altered or compromised.” The CAC attributed any portal irregularities to a recent cyberattack on its system, suggesting that the discrepancies may have resulted from external interference rather than internal manipulation.
The commission stated it had “already taken steps to investigate the dispute in line with its statutory responsibilities.”
However, DAAR Communications has pushed back against the CAC’s characterisation, noting that the company “neither authorised nor contributed to” the publication referencing the CAC’s statements, and maintaining that the discrepancies are real and require forensic investigation regardless of their cause.
DAAR Communications further alleged that the CAC had “not adequately addressed its complaints despite petitions submitted since October 2025.”
If accurate, the allegation means the company first raised concerns about its shareholding records nearly seven months before the current public dispute, and that the CAC failed to resolve the issue during that period.
The seven-month gap between the initial complaint and the current escalation raises questions about the CAC’s responsiveness to complaints from companies whose records it maintains. As the statutory custodian of corporate registration data in Nigeria, the CAC’s records serve as the authoritative source for shareholding information relied upon by courts, regulators, investors, and the companies themselves. If those records can be altered without the knowledge or consent of the registered company, and complaints about such alterations go unresolved for months, the integrity of the entire corporate registry system is called into question.
The concerns were initially disclosed in a statement signed by DAAR’s Chairman, Raymond Dokpesi Jr., and reported by AIT on April 29, 2026.