By INFOMEDIANG SOLUTIONS 
Whether you are within or outside Nigeria, it is very important to check the registration status of a company or business before engaging in business activities with them. The easiest way to do this is by checking the Intelligent Company Registration Portal (ICRP) of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
What is CAC Public Search?
The CAC public search is a database of all registered companies or business entities in Nigeria used to search for existing companies. If a company claims to be registered, go to the CAC public search to check their status.
How Check if a company is legally registered in Nigeria:
- Visit the CAC business public search portal at icrp.cac.gov.ng/public-search
- There is a space where you can select how you want to search: “All”, “RC Number”, “AV code”, or “Approved Name”.
- For this guide, let’s choose “All”. Enter the name of the business/company whose status you want to check.
- Click on the search button.
The CAC public search portal will display the results of your search query. If the company exists in the CAC database, its status will be displayed against it. Other similar business names will also be displayed.
If you find the company’s name on the CAC ICRP public search, it means the company is legally registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. Also, check its status to see if the company is compliant.
Categories of status
CAC status is categorized into three:
1) Active: This means the company is legally registered and its annual filings are up to date.
2) Inactive: This means it is a registered company but not fully compliant with its yearly annual return filings. If you pay up the backlog of annual filings, the “active” status will be reactivated against your company name.
3) Struck off: A registered company that has been removed from the CAC’s official registered business entity list due to failure to file annual returns for 10 consecutive years or more. A struck-off company name on the CAC portal can be reinstated into the CAC database, but it takes time, especially if a company owes up to 20 to 30 years of annual filings.
NOTE: The fact that a company name is found on the public search isn’t a guarantee that it will pass an integrity test. You should deepen your search on other platforms such as the SEC and CBN if the company claims to be a registered investment platform. Don’t rely only on the CAC public search.
Azeez Quadri