A Non-Government Organization (NGO) is a body or group of people who come together with a common interest or ideas that they want to pursue it could be religion, education, science and technology, sports, culture, and some other charitable courses.
The federal government of Nigeria recognizes the significant role being played by NGOs in the development of the country. But to checkmate activities of criminals who may want to use an NGO for illegal activities, the government decided to enact laws guiding the formation, registration, and operations of NGOs in the country.
The law guiding the registration of NGOs in Nigeria is the “Incorporated Trustees Law” which falls under Section 590 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Cap C20 Laws of the Federation 2010.
The Companies and Allied Matters (CAMA) Act 2010 sees NGOs as non-profit making organizations because they are usually funded by donations and are run primarily by volunteers, so, they exempted them from paying taxes in Nigeria.
The government agency vested with the power to register non-government organizations (NGOs) in Nigeria is the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (CAC).
Getting an NGO registered in Nigeria is not as difficult as many thinks, the first thing to do is to know the basic CAC requirements for registering an NGO in Nigeria and secondly to secure the services of an accredited CAC lawyer who will carry out the complete registration process.
*PROCEDURE FOR REGISTERING AN NGO
To start the process below is the basic CAC requirement for NGO Registration in Nigeria.
*Choose the Appropriate Name
To avoid unnecessary delay in registering an NGO in Nigeria, please choose two unique names for the NGO to be registered where one will be selected after the name availability search.
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Conduct CAC Name Search
Conduct a search on any of two unique names chosen for the NGO to find out if it is available and to reserve the name if available for final registration.
* Consult an Accredited CAC Lawyer
For a seamless NGO registration process with CAC, the commission requires that you consult and use the services of their accredited agent. The CAC agent can be a lawyer, secretary, or accountant.
*CAC REQUIREMENT FOR REGISTERING AN NGO
Below is the information you need to make available for the CAC-accredited agent who handles your NGO with registration to do a perfect job for you.
1. Provide the names of Executive members of the NGO (minimum of 3 and maximum of 10) with their means of Identification (I’d card) of all the executives’ members to place an advert in three National papers which will run for 28 days
2. Aims and Objectives of the NGO (minimum of 4)
3. An iron stamp seal for the NGO etc.
4. Provide 2 copies of the NGO’s Constitution.
5. Show proof of Court Declaration for all the Executive Members
6. Provide the physical Address and Email of the NGO.
7. Passport photographs of all the Executive Members
8. State the Residential addresses, Phone numbers, and Email of all Executive Members
9. Provide the Signatures of all the Executive members
10. Provide names of trustees and 2 passport photographs of the trustees
11. Provide two formal letters of an application signed by the secretary and chairman of the board, and minutes of the meeting of the NGO signed by the secretary and chairman of the board. NGO registration In Nigeria Requirments and procedure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, now that you know all the basic requirements for registering an NGO with the corporate affairs commission (CAC), It’s now time to hand over the registration to an accredited CAC lawyer who will relieve of stress involved in the registration of an NGO in Nigeria and after deliver to you the CAC certificate of the NGO.
