A
lot of people do not consider a place of worship to be a corporate
entity,but that's not the case with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The Corporate Affairs Commission view a church as a Corporate entity entity and hence must be registered as such.
The registration of churches is carried out under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act.
In this post I will show you how you can easily register a church in Nigeria.
How To Register A Church In Nigeria
Step 1:
First
of all you should think of a suitable name for the church,you should
have up to three names,an alternate name might be necessary if your
first choice is not available.
Step 2:
The
following step is to organize and form a Board of Trustees, these are
equivalent to the shareholders and directors in a company.
The trustees will be responsible for management of the church and for filling any statutory returns.
After wards visit the CAC,an application form will also be issued to you.
Step 3:
After
the application has been accepted and the name of the church
approved,the next phase is for the trustees to publish a notification of
their intention to register a church.
The
Publication of notices should be in three (3) national dailies,one
being a local newspaper widely circulated in the area where the
organization is based.
Step 4:
This step involves the completion and submission of the application form in triplicate. Other requirements include:
- (a) A formal letter of application
- (b) The original newspaper publications
- (c) 2 copies of Applicant’s constitution
- (d)
Minutes of the meeting where the trustees were appointed, having the
list of members present and absent and showingthe voting pattern,duely
signed by Chairman and Secretary of the Board.
- (e)
Minutes of the meeting where the special clause rules was adopted into
the constitution of the organization and signed by the Secretary and
Chairman.
- (f) Trustees must attach 2 passport sized photographs of themselves
- (g) Trustees must sign against their names on the application form and furnish permanent residential addresses.
- (g) The impression of the common seal should be affixed on page 11 of the form and a draft of N20,000 payable to CAC in Abuja.
Step 5:
All
the documents and payment receipts will be reviewed by the CAC,if all
the documents are correct,the church will then be registered with the
CAC,and presented with the registration documents.
