How much will it cost to register a church in Nigeria?

To register a church
in Nigeria, you either register it with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC,
as an incorporated trustee or any other applicable entity. The current CAC fee
schedule for name reservation is ₦5,000, the government registration and certified
copies of documents is ₦40,000, while newspaper advertisement and other
incidentals are additional. (Corporate Affairs Commission)

The first
consideration is that to register a church in Nigeria is different from
registering a typical business entity. A church is usually registered as an
incorporated trustee, and the CAC requires at least 2 trustees for
registration. (Corporate Affairs Commission)

First, you have to
reserve a name for your church. You need to ensure the name you intend to use
is not already taken, and the current fee for name reservation in Nigeria is
₦5,000. (Corporate Affairs Commission – CAC)

Next, you have to
register your incorporated trustee with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.
As of the current CAC fee schedule, the government registration and certified
copies of the documents is ₦40,000. From that, you can see that you will be
looking at ₦45,000 when you add it to the ₦5,000 name reservation. (Corporate
Affairs Commission – CAC)

However, keep in
mind that ₦45,000 may not necessarily be the total amount you pay to register a
church in Nigeria, because there are other clear expenses that come with
registration.

For example, as per
the CAC requirements, you have to publish a notice of your application for
registration in two daily newspapers in the region where your organisation will
be situated, and one of them has to be a national newspaper. You also have to
prepare several documents, including your organisation’s constitution, trustee
details, minutes of the meeting of the trustee(s), and trustee declaration
forms, among others. (Corporate Affairs Commission)

Therefore, if you
are considering doing it yourself, you can navigate through the CAC online
registration portal and process everything yourself. If you go with lawyers or
agents, you have to add the professional fee to whatever package you choose.
Another thing I feel I should correct in my initial script is the idea that it
takes 3 months to register a church in Nigeria. According to CAC’s current
processing time, new registrations for incorporated trustees are targeted at 24
working hours after relevant documents have been submitted and queries
addressed. It may take longer if there are complications with documents,
publication, queries, or other requirements. (Corporate Affairs Commission)

So, if you are
asking how much it costs to register a church, as per the current CAC
government fees, it will cost you ₦45,000 for name reservation, plus
registration, before newspaper advertisement and professional fees in case you go
with a lawyer or an accredited agent. (Corporate Affairs Commission – CAC)