HOW-TO

How to Do a CAC Business Name Search and Reservation

Before you register any business in Nigeria, you must check your proposed name is free and reserve it with CAC. Here is how the public name search and reservation work.

Step by step

1. Create a CAC portal accountGo to the CAC pre-incorporation portal and register an account with your email. Name availability checks and reservations are done inside this account, and the same login carries through to the full incorporation stage, so set it up with details you will keep using.
2. Run the availability checkUse the name availability tool to see whether your proposed name is already registered or too similar to an existing one. Try your preferred name and a backup. Names that clash with a well-known brand, imply government or regulatory status, or use restricted words are likely to be refused.
3. Choose compliant namesPick names that are distinctive and describe your business honestly. Avoid words that suggest a bank, government agency or chartered status unless you qualify, and steer clear of names nearly identical to existing companies. A clean, distinctive name is approved faster and protects you from disputes later.
4. Submit the name for reservationEnter your first and second choice and pay the reservation fee through the portal. CAC reviews the submission and either approves a name or declines with a reason. As of 2026, confirm the current reservation fee on the official CAC portal rather than trusting a quoted figure.
5. Receive approval and note the deadlineIf approved, the name is reserved in your account and held for a limited period, commonly cited as 60 days. Note the expiry date. The reservation holds the name for you but does not by itself register your business; you must still complete incorporation.
6. Proceed to full registrationWithin the reservation window, move on to register the business name or incorporate the company using the approved name. If you let the reservation lapse, you may have to search and reserve again, and someone else could take the name in the meantime.

Why the name step comes first

Every business registration in Nigeria, whether you are forming a limited company or a simple business name, begins with the name. The Corporate Affairs Commission keeps the national register, and it will not let two businesses sit on the same or confusingly similar names. So before anything else, you check that the name you want is free, and then you reserve it so no one else can grab it while you complete the paperwork. Skipping this step is the single most common reason a registration stalls, because an applicant builds everything around a name that turns out to be taken.

It helps to understand that a search and a reservation are two different things. A search is a look-up: it tells you whether a name appears to be available. A reservation is an action: it formally holds an approved name for you for a limited time. You do the search to decide, and the reservation to protect your choice while you register. Both are done by you, directly, inside a free account on the CAC portal, and neither requires an agent.

Setting up and running the search

You start by creating an account on the CAC pre-incorporation portal using an email address you will keep, because the same login carries you through to full incorporation later. Inside the account you will find the name availability tool. Type in your preferred name and see whether it is already registered or sits too close to an existing one. It is wise to try a second, different name at the same time, because relying on a single option is how people get stuck.

The search is not a formality to click past. Names that are nearly identical to an existing company, that imply a connection to government or a regulator, that suggest you are a bank or a chartered body when you are not, or that use otherwise restricted words, are routinely refused. Reading the result carefully, and adjusting before you pay, saves you a rejected reservation.

Choosing a name that will be approved

The names that sail through are distinctive and honest. A distinctive name, rather than a generic descriptive phrase, is both more likely to be approved and more useful to you commercially, because a bland name is hard to protect and easy to confuse with a competitor. Describe what you do without overclaiming. Avoid tacking on words that suggest regulatory status, government ownership or professional licensing unless you genuinely hold it. If your heart is set on one name, prepare a genuine alternative rather than three tiny variations of the same phrase, since near-duplicates tend to fail for the same reason.

It is worth saying plainly that a CAC reservation is not a trademark. Reserving a name stops another CAC registration from using it, but it does not give you the broader brand protection that a registered trademark does. If your name or logo is central to your business, treat trademark registration as a separate task with the relevant registry, and do not assume the CAC reservation covers it.

Reserving the name and the clock that starts

When you are satisfied, you submit your first and second choices for reservation and pay the fee through the portal. The fee is modest, but as of 2026 you should confirm the current amount on the official CAC portal, because the schedule changes from time to time and third-party agents frequently add their own charge on top without saying so. CAC then reviews the submission and either approves a name or declines it with a reason you can act on.

An approved reservation is held in your account for a limited period, commonly cited as around 60 days. That window is the important detail: the reservation protects your name only for that time. Note the expiry date the moment you see it. The reservation does not register your business on its own; it simply holds the name while you complete incorporation or business-name registration. If you let it lapse, you may have to search and reserve all over again, and nothing stops another applicant from taking the name in the gap.

From reservation to registration

The last step is to use the reserved name before the clock runs out. Within the reservation window, move straight on to the full registration, either registering a business name or incorporating a company, carrying the approved name through. Because the same portal account holds both the reservation and the registration, this is a smooth handover rather than a fresh start.

Treat the reservation as the opening move of a short, continuous process rather than a standalone errand you can leave for months. People who search, reserve and register in one focused sitting rarely lose a name; people who reserve and then disappear for a season often come back to find it gone. None of this is legal advice, but the discipline of doing the name step properly, and reading the official portal for the current fee and reservation period, is what keeps the rest of your registration on track.

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.