Most paperwork in Lagos goes wrong in the same two ways: a step done in the wrong order, or a trip made without the one thing the office asks for. Pick what you need to do, answer a question or two, and you get the steps that apply to you - with where to go, what to bring and what it costs, where anyone publishes a cost.

Tick steps off as you go. The ticks stay on this device, and nothing you choose here is sent anywhere.

Get my NIN

The eleven-digit number nearly everything else asks for first: a bank account, a passport, a SIM, a pension account. Enrolment is free.

  1. Gather your documents

    Get your names and date of birth consistent across them first: the NIN record is what other agencies check against.

    Bring

    • A birth certificate or declaration of age
    • Any existing identity document you have
    • Evidence of address

    Birth certificates ➞

  2. Enrol at a NIMC centre

    Only if Where are you enrolling: In Nigeria

    You are photographed and all ten fingerprints are taken. Anyone charging for first-time enrolment is charging for nothing.

    Where
    A NIMC enrolment centre
    Cost
    Free, for first-time enrolment

  3. Enrol through the NIMC diaspora process

    Only if Where are you enrolling: Abroad

    Abroad, enrolment goes through NIMC's diaspora process rather than a centre.

    Cost
    Not free abroad; the fee is set by the diaspora process

  4. Check every field before you sign

    Your name spelled exactly as on your other documents, your date of birth, your parents' names. Correcting a record afterwards takes weeks, and some fields can be changed only a limited number of times.

    Cost
    ₦3,500 for each modification later, which is the reason to check now

  5. Keep the slip

    The slip carries the number, and it is what everyone accepts. The physical card takes much longer.

  6. Link your phone lines

    Dial *346# on each line to see the number the network holds, and link through your network's app or a service centre. An unlinked line gets barred, usually without much warning.

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Get or renew a Nigerian passport

Apply and pay online, then one visit for your fingerprints and photograph. The passport is copied from your NIN record, so that comes first.

  1. Check your NIN record first

    The details on the passport are taken from your NIN. If the NIN is wrong, the passport will be wrong: correct the record before you apply, not after.

    The NIN plan ➞

  2. Start well before the old one runs out

    Only if Do you have a Nigerian passport already: Yes, I am renewing

    Many countries will not admit you on a passport with less than six months left, and many airlines will not board you.

  3. Get your documents together

    Bring the originals and a set of photocopies.

    Bring

    • Your NIN
    • Your birth certificate or a declaration of age
    • A letter of identification from your local government or state of origin

  4. Add your marriage certificate

    Only if Has your name changed by marriage: Yes

    A name changed by marriage needs the certificate alongside everything else.

  5. Add your old passport

    Only if Do you have a Nigerian passport already: Yes, I am renewing

  6. Apply online and choose an office

    On the NIS website, choose the booklet, the passport office and a capture date.

    Cost
    ₦50,000 for 32 pages (5 years), ₦100,000 for 64 pages (10 years), applying in Nigeria

  7. Pay online, and keep the receipt

    Keep the payment reference and the receipt; you need both at the office. There is nothing else to pay there, and money to "speed it up" is not a fee.

  8. Go to the passport office on your date

    Arrive early. An appointment is a place in the queue, not a time you will be seen.

    Where
    The passport office you chose

    Bring

    • Your documents, originals and photocopies
    • The payment receipt and reference

  9. Collect it in person

    When you are told it is ready, with your receipt.

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Change my name

An affidavit and a newspaper notice are what most offices still ask for, then every record in an order that stops you being half-changed. Read the guide on the law first.

  1. Take a lawyer's advice before you start

    Only if Will the change reach a passport, a land title or a foreign visa: Yes

    The Supreme Court in PDP v Degi-Eremienyo said an affidavit and a newspaper notice do not change the name on an official record. A change that will be tested later is safer by deed poll and the Official Gazette. Check whether the NPC's deed-poll process has begun.

  2. Swear an affidavit of change of name

    Your old name, your new name and the reason. In Lagos it is sworn online, through LagosCoMiS. Some federal agencies want one from the Federal High Court: ask the office first.

    Cost
    The court fee, paid online

    Swearing an affidavit ➞

  3. Have your marriage certificate ready

    Only if Is it after a marriage: Yes, after marriage

    After a divorce, the decree instead.

    Marriage in Nigeria ➞

  4. Publish the change in a national newspaper

    In the classified notices. Keep the full page, not a cutting.

  5. Publish in the Official Gazette, where an office asks

    Some do, for passports, immigration and other official purposes.

  6. Update your NIN first

    Other agencies verify against it, so a mismatch here blocks everything after. Make one change, correctly.

    Cost
    ₦3,500 for each modification

    Your NIN ➞

  7. Then your bank and BVN

    Your bank updates the BVN; each bank you use then needs the new name.

  8. Then your passport

    A change of name means a new passport application.

    The passport plan ➞

  9. Then the rest

    Your driver's licence, your employer, your pension fund administrator and your tax record. Certificates are usually kept in the old name, linked by the change-of-name documents.

  10. Keep certified copies of everything

    You will be asked for them for years.

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Register a birth

Free within 60 days, with the National Population Commission. The certificate is the first document in a child's life and the one every later one asks to see.

  1. Ask at the hospital before you are discharged

    Only if Where was the baby born: In a hospital

    Many Lagos hospitals and maternity centres have an NPC registration point, or will tell you the nearest one.

  2. Arrange a declaration from someone present at the birth

    Only if Where was the baby born: Not in a hospital

    The NPC asks for one when the birth was not in a hospital.

  3. Register within 60 days

    It is free within the window. Late registration is still possible, but can carry a fee and asks for more evidence.

    Where
    The hospital's NPC point, or an NPC office in your local government area
    Cost
    Free within 60 days

    Bring

    • The hospital's notification of birth, if born in a hospital
    • The parents' IDs: NIN slips, passports or national ID cards
    • The parents' full names, dates of birth and states of origin

  4. Read every word before you leave the desk

    The names and date of birth follow your child into the NIN, the passport and every certificate after. A misspelling is far easier to correct on the day.

  5. Then enrol the child for a NIN

    For a passport, some school registrations and health insurance.

    The NIN plan ➞

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Register a death

The medical certificate, then the NPC within 60 days. The death certificate is what banks, the pension administrator and the courts will ask for.

  1. Get the medical certificate of cause of death

    From the hospital, or the doctor who was treating them. A mortuary wants it before it accepts the body, and every step after needs it. Ask for several copies.

  2. Report it to the police

    Only if Was the death sudden, violent or unexplained: Yes

    A sudden, violent or unexplained death goes to the coroner, who may order a post-mortem. The body is not released for burial until the coroner allows it. This is not optional.

  3. Register the death within 60 days

    Burial often comes first, especially for Muslim families. That is normal; register as soon as you can afterwards.

    Where
    A hospital's NPC point, or an NPC office in the local government area

    Bring

    • The medical certificate
    • The deceased's NIN, passport or ID card
    • Your own ID

  4. Tell each bank in writing

    With the death certificate. The bank freezes the accounts and releases the money only to the person the court appoints, not to the next of kin on a form.

  5. Contact the pension fund administrator

    The RSA is paid to the named beneficiaries or the estate. If they were working, ask the employer about group life insurance too.

    Pension and your RSA ➞

  6. Apply to the Probate Registry

    Probate if there is a will, letters of administration if there is not. It takes months, and a lawyer is worth having. Until a grant is made, nobody may sell the house or close the accounts.

    Where
    The Probate Registry of the Lagos State High Court
Guide Read the full guide ➞

Replace lost or stolen documents

The urgent things in the first hour, then a police report and an affidavit of loss, then each office that issued a document.

  1. Block your SIM

    Only if Was your phone taken too: Yes

    Call your network from another phone and have the line barred. Your number is the key to your bank accounts.

  2. Block your cards and banking

    Call your bank, or use its emergency USSD code from another phone.

  3. Change your email and banking passwords

    Only if Was your phone taken too: Yes

  4. Get a police report

    At the station covering the area where it happened. Ask for a written report listing every document lost.

    Cost
    None: there is no fee for reporting a crime

  5. Swear an affidavit of loss

    Listing the same documents. In Lagos it is sworn online.

    Swearing an affidavit ➞

  6. Make several copies of both

    Every office will want one.

  7. Apply for a replacement passport

    Only if Was a passport lost: Yes, a Nigerian passport

    Through the NIS portal, with the police report and the affidavit. It is a fresh application, not a renewal, and the lost passport is cancelled.

    The passport plan ➞

  8. Replace each document at the office that issued it

    A NIN never changes: reprint the slip. A SIM at your network's own service centre. A birth certificate as a certified copy from the NPC. WAEC does not reissue a certificate; it issues an attestation.

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Buy a used car

Inspect it with your own mechanic, check the papers, pay into an account, then transfer it into your name. A car without proper papers can be seized.

  1. Inspect it with a mechanic you trust

    Not one the seller recommends. Check the VIN matches the papers, look for flood damage, test drive it and run a diagnostic scan.

  2. See the Customs duty papers

    Only if What kind of car is it: Tokunbo

    Customs can verify them; ask the dealer to show you how.

  3. See the proof of ownership and vehicle licence

    Only if What kind of car is it: Nigerian-used

    The seller's ID must match the owner's name.

  4. Get a receipt and a written sale agreement

    Signed by both of you, with the VIN, the price and the date.

  5. Pay into an account, after the papers check out

    In the seller's or the dealership's name. Never cash in a car park.

  6. Transfer the registration into your name

    Where
    A Lagos motor licensing office

  7. Get your own vehicle licence, insurance and roadworthiness

    Keep the originals in the car and copies at home.

    The driver's licence ➞

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Get a Nigerian driver's licence

A learner's permit, training at an accredited school, then an online application and one visit for the tests and your biometrics.

  1. Ask the FRSC what applies to your country

    Only if Do you hold a foreign licence: Yes

    You may drive on a foreign licence for 3 months. Do not count on exchanging it directly; ask before you plan on it.

  2. Get a learner's permit

    You must be at least 18.

  3. Train at an accredited driving school

    The school's certificate is part of the application. A school that sells the certificate without the lessons is selling a document, not a skill.

  4. Apply and pay online

    Through the official portal only. Touts outside licensing offices sell forgeries.

    Cost
    ₦21,000 for the longer licence

  5. Attend the licensing centre

    For an eye test, a driving test and your photograph and fingerprints.

  6. Collect the licence

    A temporary slip covers you until it is printed. Carry it.

Guide Read the full guide ➞

Where these steps come from

Each plan is the short form of a guide on this site, and links to it - read the guide when a step needs more than a line. Fees are quoted only where an office publishes one; where a fee is not published, the plan says so rather than guessing, and the office has the last word.

Two things hold for almost every plan:

  • Get your NIN right first. Passports, banks and SIMs check against it, and a name or date of birth that disagrees with it stops more applications than anything else.
  • Pay only through the official channel. Touts and agents outside offices offer to “process” things for a fee; some of what they sell is forged.

Letter and document templates Swearing an affidavit