CAC Public Search: How to check if a Company or Business Name is Registered in Nigeria
There’s seemingly nothing as dangerous as going into a deal with an unregistered company; having anything to do with an unregistered company is very dangerous and could be disastrous at the same time.
It’s no longer news that many persons have lost a huge amount of capital by doing business with companies they don’t know are yet to be registered under the controlling body of Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC).
It is compulsory for all companies and businesses in Nigeria to be registered under the appropriate governing body, and as at the time this article is written, the only body that has been vested with the authority to register companies and businesses is the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC); the activities of this body is not limited to registering businesses and companies alone, but also to regulate how companies are being formed and managed in the country.
I would advise that you take some drastic steps in confirming if the company or business you are patronizing is actually registered with CAC, this would safe you the stress of being scammed unnecessarily.
How to search for a Company or Business name in Nigeria
Time needed: 5 minutes
Below are the simple steps to take in confirming the registration of companies or businesses under the Cooperate Affairs Commission in Nigeria.
- Log on to the official website of the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) – http://services.cac.gov.ng/
Select the “public search” service on the very first page; the good thing is that this site is easy to access at the comfort of your home, the platform has a user friendly interface and also free to use
- Enter the details of the company or business you want to find information on
After selecting “public search” on the first page as shown in in step one above, you will be automatically redirected to the search page, where you will be required to enter the name of the company or business you want to validate its authenticity; enter the name of the company or business in the search engine with heading “search record by name”.
Note: be sure to enter the name of the company or business without the “PLC”, “Limited” or “LTD”. - Verify that you are a human
Click the small box that is laced beneath the search box; and be sure to verify that you are not a robot; you might be lucky not to be directed to a page where you will need to identify some objects and tick ones that matched correctly; not getting this verification done might actually stop you from going to the next stage.
- Start your search
After you must have successfully carried out the verification process, the small box will be ticked, this shows that you have been verified. Then click on “search”, this will lead you to the next page.
If the company or business whose you entered is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, the search will return a result showing the details of the company and CAC registration status; this includes, the full name of the company or business, the RC number, the full address of the company and the reiteration date.
If the company or business is still undergoing the registration process, then the result of the search wouldn’t bring the RC number and the company address, it’ll only display the full name of the company and the registration date.
If the search didn’t display any result; that is, if all it brings to you is a blank page, then the company or business is not registered with the Cooperate Affairs Commission.
Conclusion
It’s no news that there’s an increasing rate of fraud and criminality in Nigeria, and the risk of getting scammed is very high as many of these scammers would approach you as a genuine company who truly have something to offer.
I would advise that you don’t do business with any company that is yet to be registered under the Corporate Affairs Commission; how to know if a company is registered with CAC has been explained in this article, all you need to do is to just follow these steps out rightly before getting involved in any deal with a company or business in the country.
One of the benefits of transacting with a registered company is that one could easily sue such a company to court if there’s a breach of contract or a suspected act of fraud; it is therefore very important to conduct a diligent search before engaging the services or transacting with a company or business to avoid being scammed.
However, the CAC online search is limited to providing just the company’s name, address and other information.
To get in-depth information about the company or business, it is advisable to consult a lawyer and have them conduct a manual search at any CAC company located across the country.
