Due to the lack of jobs in the Nigerian labour market, enterprenuership seems to be the solution to wealth building and financial stability. Not only are many young Nigerians becoming CEOs but they are also doing a fine job of it with young companies springing up daily in their hundreds. There is no gain saying that these generation of companies will carve a niche for their brands in the Nigerian economy, you could be part of them to, but first of all, you need to own a company.
This article aims to inform every would be Nigerian enterprenuer of the legal requirements needed to form a company. It is a general rule that 2 or more persons may come together to form a company for the purpose of profit making and that every company must be formed in the manner set out in the Companies and Allied Matters Act
.
The first step in forming a company is for the person charged with the responsibility to take down all information necessary for the requisite documents, such person is usually a lawyer, thereafter these documents known as “Documents of Incorporation” shall be delivered to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration.
These documents of incorporation include:
– Memorandum and Articles of Incorporation.
– The address of the registered office and head office.
– Particulars of the director(s)
– A statement of the authorised share capital
– A statuory declaration form by a legal practitioner stating that all conditions of law have been met, and
– Any other document required by the commission.
When the above documents are found to be in other, then the commission shall register the company and issue a certificate of incorporation which certifies that the company is incorporated. It is though quite important to put at the back of our minds that there are a class of people who cannot form companies, these class of people are:
i. Individuals under the age of 18
ii. People of unsound mind
iii. An undischarged bankrupt
iv. Persons who have been convicted by a court of an offence connected to formation or managements of companies or convicted of fraud.
Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.
@adedunmade
dunmadeo@yahoo.com