Simple Steps to Check if a Company is Registered in Nigeria

Simple Steps to Check if a Company is Registered in Nigeria.

Steps to Check if a Company is Registered – I truly know the damage doing business with an unregistered company has caused and you don’t have to fall a  victim of this when you can easily prevent it from happening. If you don’t know how to go about it, this content is going to help you by showing you steps on how you can detect an unregistered company in Nigeria.

First of all, you need to know that company or business registrations in Nigeria are done by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Here are a few things you need to know about CAC:

About the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)

The Corporate Affairs Commission was established by the Companies and Allied Matters Act, which was founded in 1990. The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) was created to regulate how companies in Nigeria are formed and managed.

They help those who care to know how legitimate a company is before going into transactions with it.

The establishment of the Corporate Affairs Commission as an autonomous body was a result of the perceived inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the erstwhile Company Registry, a department within the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Tourism which was then responsible for the registration and administration of the repealed Companies Act of 1968.

The vision of CAC: To be a world-class company’s registry providing excellent registration and regulatory services.

The mission of CAC: We are committed to providing registration and regulatory services that meet the expectations of stakeholders for the benefit of the economy.

Core Values:

• Courtesy
• Integrity
• Dedication
• Efficiency

The Function of the Commission: The functions of the Commission include the following:

• To administer the Act, including the regulation and supervision of the formation, incorporation, management and winding up of companies
• To establish and maintain companies registry and offices in all the states of the Federation suitably and adequately equipped to discharge its functions under the Act or any law in respect of which it is charged with the responsibility
• Arrange and conduct an investigation into the affairs of any company where the interests of the shareholders and the public so demand
• To undertake such other activities as are necessary or expedient for giving full effect to the provisions of the Act.
• The Commission also registers Business Names, and Incorporated Trustees as well as provides a wide range of ancillary services

Structure of the Commission: The Governing Board of the Commission consists of the following:

• The Chairman who is appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
• A representative of the Legal Profession;
• A representative of the Accounting Profession
• A representative of the Nigeria Chamber of Commerce, Industries Mines and Agriculture.
• A representative of the Securities and Exchange Commission
• A representative of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria
• A representative of the Federal Ministry of Commerce
• A representative of the Federal Ministry of Industries
• A representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice and
• The Registrar-General is the Chief Executive officer of the Commission and in charge of its day-to-day management.

Steps to Check if a Company is Registered

The steps below will guide you to discover if a company is registered in Nigeria:

Step 1: Log on to the Corporate Affairs Commission website at http://services.cac.gov.ng/ and choose the “Public Search” service on the landing page.

Step 2: You will find yourself on the search page where you will have to input the name of the company in the search engine with this heading: “Search Record by Name”.

Step 3: Below the search engine is a square box you will need to check to verify that you are human and not a robot.

Step 4: After verifying that you are not a robot, click on “Search” to check if the company is registered. The search will display results showing the details of the company and CAC registered status if it is registered.

The name of the company, the RC number, the address of the company, and the date of registration will be included in the result. The result will return empty if the company is not registered.

Then if the company is still undergoing registration, the result will return without RC number and address.

Benefits of a Registered Business

If you want to start a new company or already have an existing one, then you should consider registering the company. There are lots of benefits when you register your company or business in Nigeria, these benefits are listed below:

Registering Your Business Brings More Trust: The competition in the commercial industry is high and requires 100% trust so you can become successful in running your business. The trust comes only when your business is registered.

Registering your business also provides you with legal backing for your business. When starting out a business, it is very important to take things seriously especially at the beginning.

Registering a Company Provides Protection for Your Company Name: You will come to discover the importance of registering a company’s name and the protection this will bring in the future.

Before registering your company in Nigeria with the Corporate Affairs Commission, you need to know the requirements first. This will help you to do things right.

Requirements for Registering your Company

Your Company Must Have At Least Two Members: One of the requirements of registering your company’s name is to have at least 2 members or more but they should not exceed 50 members. The members of your company must be at least 18 years old with a sound mind and must meet CAMA qualifications demand.

Minimum Share Capital of Your Business: The least share capital of your business should be from N10,000 upwards and not less. The process of registering your company may take 3 to 6 weeks based on the schedule of the CAC. That’s why you need to be patient.

Have a Good Lawyer: You need a good lawyer that will help you to fill the documents and will assist you throughout the process of the registration.

Have a Name: Choose a name that has not been taken for your company and submit it to CAC. They will perform a search to know whether the name you submitted is available.

For you to save yourself some time, submit about two names for your company and you need to run a personal search in order to succeed in one or two attempts.

Official Website:

For more information about how you can register your company with CAC, visit the Official website: https://services.cac.gov.ng/ 

Having known the steps to check if a company is registered, if by any chance you follow these steps but can’t find the company you are looking for on the list, just know that it a fake company or simply an unregistered. 

Be very careful as you go into transactions with them to avoid regrets. Thanks for your time in reading this article. Trust you will share this content with others who lack this information.

CSN Team.