By Eucharia Bennybonny

A non-governmental Organization (NGO) is a not-for-profit Organization registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission

and which main objectives encourages/promotes either humanitarian, scientific, cultural, social, educational, religious, health care, public policy, human rights, environmental, political educational participation, etc. Examples of NGOs include Churches, Mosques, Clubs, Associations, Foundations, Charity homes, Civil Society Organizations, Unions, etc.

Since the enactment of the new Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020, NGOs are no longer registrable under Part C but under Part F of the CAMA. For this reason, a lot has changed in the registration process.

Key changes include that:

You can do it yourself as a non-accredited agent but there are rigours involved in deciding not to engage a professional. Every registration process is online. You do not need to go to any CAC office to begin or complete any CAC registration. Even the signing of documents is online. Certificates are also delivered online. The name availability search is made by applying to the Registrar-General for Consent. The cost for this is 10 times the cost for the name search of other business registrations. You need the National Identification Numbers of all the trustees. It takes not less than 30 days to register this. Most people will promise to get you the Certificate within 7 days, but even they themselves know that you have to wait mandatorily for 28 days after newspaper publications for any possible objections from members of the public. It costs between N150,000 and N250,000 to register an NGO, depending on a lot of factors like the client’s choice on which newspaper to publish in, the number of Trustees, etc. Before we delve into the step-by-step procedure for registering NGOs, it is pertinent to know that the process is easier said than done. It requires some rigours and skills (no matter how detailed I may be in writing). Furthermore, once you cross the first hurdle of getting the name approval and Consent Code, if you start registration with the said Consent Code, no other professional can help you from his or her end. You will have to give him or her all of your password in other to complete the whole process.

The following are steps towards the registration of an NGO:

Appoint Trustees and secretary and get all their details like names, address, phone number, email, occupation, etc. Write out the aims and objectives of the proposed NGO and two preferred names you may want your NGO to bear because the next step will be towards conducting name availability search and getting the consent of the Registrar-general in Abuja. Go to cac.gov.ng and click on “Account Creation” in order to sign up and create an account as either an accredited or a non-accredited agent. With your username and password, log in to pre.cac.gov.ng and click on “New Name Reservation” On the “Classification” and “Specific Type” Columns, select “INCORPORATED TRUSTEE” Follow all the promptings for the Registrar-general’s Consent and pay. A name (out of the two or three you submitted) will be approved and a Consent Code will be sent to you to commence Registration. Please don’t commence registration if you don’t know how to complete it. The reason was stated in the beginning of this Article. Make publications in two daily national newspapers and wait for 28 to elapse. This is usually a period when any person can object to the registration of your NGO. If there’s no objection, you can continue. Draft the minutes of the meeting of the NGO which will contain the following details: list of members present, list of members absent, appointment of the board of trustees and the voting pattern, the date of appointment, and the adoption of the Special Clause for incorporation into the Constitution of the NGO which shall be duly signed and dated by both the Chairman and the Secretary of the Board. Prepare Trustees Declaration Form to be sworn by all the Trustees in the High Court. Upload all the documents to CAC portal. If there is no query, registration will be approved within 5 working days. Download the Certificate, the Constitution and the Status Report. Apply for TIN (Tax Identification Number) with FIRS. Open a Bank Account with any bank of your choice. Get SCUML Certificate.

Bennybonny is a Lagos-based Lawyer. She can be reached on 08066053162, ukbenny3@gmail.com.

In this article