HOW-TO

How to Register a Limited Liability Company (LTD) on CAC

Turning a business idea into a registered private limited company in Nigeria means filing directly with the Corporate Affairs Commission through its online portal. Here is the full path.

Step by step

1. Reserve your company nameCreate an account on the CAC portal and run a name availability check, then submit two proposed names for reservation. Avoid names that are identical to existing companies or that imply government backing. An approved reservation is held for a limited window (commonly cited as 60 days), so file incorporation before it lapses.
2. Decide your company structureSettle the share capital, the split of shares between shareholders, and who the directors and company secretary (if any) will be. A private company limited by shares needs at least one director and one shareholder, each with valid identification and a residential or registered address.
3. Complete the incorporation applicationIn the CAC portal, fill the company particulars: registered office address, nature of business, directors, shareholders, and the memorandum and articles of association (you can adopt CAC's model articles). Enter each person's details carefully, as errors are the most common cause of a query or rejection.
4. Upload documents and signaturesAttach a valid means of identification for each director and shareholder, passport photographs, and signed consent/signature pages. Documents are usually uploaded as clear scans. Do not submit anyone's banking details; CAC does not need them to incorporate a company.
5. Pay the filing fee and stamp dutyThe CAC filing fee depends on your share capital, and stamp duty is charged separately. Pay through the portal's approved payment channel. As of 2026, fee schedules change periodically, so confirm the exact amounts on the official CAC portal rather than relying on a third party's quote.
6. Track the application and fix queriesCAC reviews the filing and may raise a query if something is unclear or inconsistent. Respond promptly through the portal. If all is in order, approval often comes within a few working days, though timelines vary with volume.
7. Download your certificate and status reportOnce approved, download your Certificate of Incorporation and the certified status report (which replaced older CAC forms) from the portal. Store them safely; banks, NRS and other agencies will ask for them when you open accounts or register for tax.

What registering an LTD actually means

A private limited liability company, written as “Ltd” after the name, is a business that the law treats as a separate person from its owners. That separation is the whole point. If the company owes money or is sued, the owners generally risk only what they put into their shares, not their personal homes or savings. It is also the structure most banks, investors, large customers and government agencies expect before they will deal with you seriously. Registering one in Nigeria is handled by the Corporate Affairs Commission, the agency that keeps the national register of companies, and the entire filing is done online.

The process has two halves that are easy to confuse. The first is reserving your company name, handled on the pre-incorporation side of the CAC portal. The second is the incorporation itself, where you supply the people, the money and the documents that bring the company into existence. Post-incorporation changes, such as adding a director or changing the address later, happen on a separate part of the portal. Knowing which stage you are at saves a lot of confusion when you are clicking through menus.

Before you start

Good preparation is what turns a stressful week into a two-day task. Decide on the company’s name and have a second choice ready, because duplicate or misleading names are routinely rejected. Work out your share capital, which is simply the total value of shares the company issues, and how those shares are divided among the owners. Line up at least one director and one shareholder, each with a valid means of identification, a passport photograph and a working address. Choose the registered office address where official letters will go, and write a short, honest description of what the business will do.

You do not need banking details, a BVN or a NIN upload to incorporate, and any “agent” who insists on collecting those should be treated with suspicion. Keep your documents as clean scans, because blurry or cut-off uploads are a common reason filings get queried.

Filing the application

You begin by creating an account on the CAC portal and running a name availability check. Submit your proposed names for reservation; if one is approved, it is held for you for a limited period, so you should move on to incorporation without delay. From there you complete the company particulars: the registered address, the nature of business, and the full details of every director and shareholder. You will adopt a memorandum and articles of association, and for most small companies CAC’s model articles are perfectly adequate.

Accuracy matters more than speed here. The single most common cause of a rejected or queried filing is a mismatch, a name spelled differently from the ID, a wrong date of birth, or a shareholding that does not add up to the total share capital. Check every field against the identity documents before you submit. Once the particulars are in, you upload the identification, photographs and signature pages, and the system calculates what you owe.

Fees, stamp duty and timelines

Two charges apply: the CAC filing fee, which rises with the share capital you declare, and stamp duty, which is assessed separately. You pay through the portal’s approved payment channel. Fee schedules are revised from time to time, so as of 2026 you should read the current figures directly on the official CAC portal rather than trusting a number quoted on a blog or by an agent, since those are frequently out of date. Many third-party sites also bundle in their own service charge without saying so.

When the name is already reserved and the documents are clean, approval often arrives within a few working days, although busy periods stretch that out. If CAC raises a query, answer it promptly through the portal; most queries are minor and quick to clear. Once approved, you download your Certificate of Incorporation and the certified status report, the document that has replaced several older CAC forms as proof of who owns and runs the company.

After incorporation

Registration is the beginning, not the end. Companies incorporated from 2026 are designed to receive a Tax Identification Number automatically through the registration number, with the revenue service notified as part of the process, but you should still confirm the tax registration is live before you start trading. You will usually need the certificate and status report to open a corporate bank account, and separately you may need to register for VAT, obtain sector licences, or get a SCUML certificate if your business falls into a regulated category.

Keep your filings current. If directors, shareholders, the address or the share capital change, those updates are made on the post-incorporation portal, and companies are expected to file annual returns to stay in good standing. Letting a company lapse into default makes it harder to get loans, bid for contracts or sell the business later. None of this is legal advice; for anything unusual, such as foreign ownership or complex shareholding, speak to a qualified professional.

SabiGuide is an independent guide and is not affiliated with any government agency. Fees, links and steps can change — always confirm on the official portal before you act. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.