Nigerian Legal Requirements on Names and Registration Number of Companies

Under Nigerian law, a company is required to do the following:

1. paint or affix and keep painted or affixed its name and registration number in a conspicuous position on the outside of every office or place in which its business is carried on;

1. have its name engraved in legible characters on its seals;

• have its name and registration number mentioned in legible characters in all business letters of the company and in all notices, advertisements, and other official publications of the company, and in all bills of exchange, promissory notes, endorsements, cheques, and orders for money or goods purporting to be signed by or behalf of the company, in all bills or parcels, invoices, receipts, and letters of credit of the company.

A company is required to disclose the particulars of its directors in trade catalogues, trade circulars, showcards and business letters on or in which the company’s name appears and which are issued or sent by the company to any person in Nigeria. The particulars that must be disclosed include:

1. the director’s present forename, or initials and present surname;
2. any former forenames and surnames; and

• his nationality, if not a Nigerian.

In addition, a company is required to furnish a purchaser with a tax invoice containing the following:

1. tax payers identification number;
2. name and address of the company;

• VAT registration number;

1. the date of supply;
2. name of purchaser or client;
3. gross amount of transaction; and

• tax charged and rate applied.