Type a proposed business or company name and instantly see the rule-based reasons CAC commonly refuses names — before you spend the reservation fee.
Type the business or company name — not your personal details.
You bring a few simple details about your situation — never a NIN, BVN, passport number, bank or card details:
NigeriaHowTo is an independent information website. We are not affiliated with any government agency, and this tool will never process your application or share your data with any agency. To be specific:
A CAC name-availability check returns one of three outcomes. Each routes the application to a different next step. Knowing which outcome you have is what stops a reservation fee being spent against a name that was never going to register.
A refused CAC name reservation is rarely a one-off. It almost always falls into one of five refusal categories under Section 852 of CAMA 2020 or the suffix-rules. Naming the category is what opens the right recovery path.
Two routes lead to the same outcome under Part C of CAMA 2020. The company's own representative can submit directly at pre.cac.gov.ng, or an accredited agent (chartered secretary, lawyer, or chartered accountant) can submit on the company's behalf. Both are first-class.
CAMA 2020 splits registrable entities into six common types. Each carries its own documentary bundle, identifier load, and consent path. Knowing which type you are registering tells you what every other CAC article you read needs to assume.