01
Open the CAC company search portal
Go to search.cac.gov.ng — the Corporate Affairs Commission's public search page. It is free, needs no account, and works on a phone. This is a search of the register, not a reservation: it tells you what already exists, not what you are entitled to use.
02
Search the distinctive word, not the whole name
Type only the distinctive part of your proposed name. For "Brightpath Logistics Limited", search "Brightpath". Suffixes like Limited, Ltd, Nigeria, Global, Ventures and Enterprises are treated as generic, so a search for the full string can wrongly look clear.
03
Read the results properly
The portal returns registered companies, business names, incorporated trustees and limited partnerships, with an RC or BN number and a status. A conflict can be an active entity, a dormant one, or an entity registered under a different structure — all of them can block you.
04
Test the close variants too
CAC refuses names that are identical or too similar to an existing one. Run the search again with common spelling variants, singular and plural forms, spaced and joined versions, and phonetic equivalents (Bright Path, Brytepath, Brightpaths). If any of them return a hit, expect a query.
05
Screen for restricted and misleading words
Words such as Federal, National, Government, Cooperative, Chamber of Commerce, Holdings, Bank, Insurance, Capital and Microfinance are restricted or require the consent of a regulator. A name implying a licensed activity you do not hold will be refused even when the search looked clear.
06
Reserve the name once it looks clear
A clear search is only a snapshot. Log in to the CAC Company Registration Portal (pre.cac.gov.ng), submit a name availability check with a first and alternate choice, and pay the reservation fee. An approved reservation holds the name for 60 days while you complete registration.
Where most people lose time
A rejected name costs you the fee and the days
Reservation fees are not refunded when a name is queried, and each resubmission restarts the wait. If you would rather not gamble on a similarity call, send us your two or three preferred names — we screen them against the register and the restricted-word rules, reserve the one that will clear, and take the registration through to your certificate.
Questions we get
Frequently asked
- Is the CAC public search free?
- Yes. Searching the register at search.cac.gov.ng costs nothing. The fee applies only when you formally reserve a name through the CAC Company Registration Portal.
- Does a clear search mean my name is approved?
- No. The public search shows what is already on the register. Approval is a separate decision by CAC, which also applies similarity, restricted-word and public-interest rules. Only an approved name reservation is binding.
- How long does a reserved name last?
- An approved name reservation is valid for 60 days. If registration is not completed within that window, the name is released and must be reserved again.
- Why was my name rejected when the search showed nothing?
- Usually similarity to an existing entity, a restricted or regulated word, or a name that implies an activity requiring a licence. Submitting a well-formed alternate choice alongside your first is the fastest way to avoid losing days to a query.