INTRODUCTION

For every society to maintain orderliness and organization in a particular sector there is a need for a set of rules and directives. This set of rules and directives made and enforced by an authority is called a Regulation. The authority responsible for making and enforcing these regulations are simply called – Regulators. Pertaining to our subject matter of discourse, our focus is on Business Regulations. We will not be focusing on particular regulators or regulations. The brevity of this write-up would not permit us to deal extensively with the regulators, but it would be a qualitative discourse.

THE HIGHLIGHT OF REGULATORS IN BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN NIGERIA

In Nigeria, there are different regulators responsible for various aspects of business operations particularly relating to entrepreneurs and MSMEs. The following regulators are generally the most active regulators in the business industry of Nigeria:

1. Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
2. Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)
3. State Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
4. National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC)
5. Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON)
6. Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
7. Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)
8. Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment – Trademarks, Patents, and Designs
9. Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) etc.

Please note that as a business owner or an entrepreneur, you are likely to have dealings with a minimum of 4 Regulators in your field. For example, when you decide to engage in the business of Pre-Packaged Food Manufacturing. The first point of the call is to register your business with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Before you begin to manufacture for sale, you need to register with NAFDAC. One of the requirements to register with NAFDAC is Evidence of Registration of Brand Name with the Trademark Registry in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. After the commencement of business, the business and business owners begin to pay applicable taxes to the FIRS and SIRS respectively.  From this above, the business owner has had cause to deal with 5 regulators over one company.

Even though business owners may not be lawyers and are not expected to know all these laws, there are basic principles of business laws that an entrepreneur or a business owner should know to avoid some business calamities.

As an entrepreneur or a business owner, it is important to note the following as business transaction is concerned:

1. When entering into a contract, the business owner should enter such a contract in the name of his/her business. This is to forestall situations in which the business owner becomes liable for the acts of the company. However, when a business is yet to be registered, the owner should not enter into a contract in such a name as such a contract becomes unenforceable. Only a registered business has the capacity to enter and enforce a contract.
2. Also, in cases where the other party in a contract is a corporate entity, it is essential that you verify the registration status of such company, as it is commonplace to see persons that carry out business transactions with unregistered names, enter an agreement in such names. If it happens that you enter into a contract with an unregistered organization, enforcing such a contract on the organization will usually pose some challenges and difficulties.

iii.        There are generally two forms of contract: Oral Contract and Written Contract. It should be noted that the two are enforceable in law. Nevertheless, it is advisable that you reduce your agreement into writing either by yourself (even though not always expedient and wise) or through a lawyer. A written agreement is easily proved in court in the event of disagreement or dispute between parties. In your business engagements, it is important you avoid handshake agreements or gentleman agreements.

1. In any transaction that involves an exchange of money, I will further advise that the handing over to the other party should be in a form that is traceable and evidential – either through the issuance of a cheque, bank deposit, or electronic transfer. In a situation where the money is paid in cash, the receiver should be required to acknowledge the receipt in writing. It is advised that cash payment without proof should be completely avoided. Aside from issues of denial of receipt of such money, there are many issues that can come up that would warrant proof. There is a case we handled recently, where a man collected some money but died before the execution of the business transaction. The family of the deceased was not willing to release the money to the partners as no evidence to prove it.