Nigeria Supreme Court Overhauls Legal Name‑Change Process

Nigeria’s Supreme Court has ruled that affidavits and newspaper notices are no longer sufficient to alter a person’s official name. The judgment, issued in the PDP v Degi‑Eremienyo case that stemmed from a disputed Bayelsa governorship election, requires three steps for a valid change: a deed poll prepared and sealed by a lawyer, approval from the relevant issuing authority, and publication in the Official Gazette.

The decision replaces the long‑standing practice of filing a court affidavit and publishing a notice in a national newspaper. It affects records held by the National Population Commission, the National Civil Registry, and documents linked to WAEC certificates, UTME results, National Identification Numbers, bank accounts, pension files and Bank Verification Numbers. Applicants must now submit the deed poll and a letter to the Chairman of the National Population Commission’s Legal Department in Abuja.

The ruling is expected to tighten identity verification across financial and governmental institutions and to reduce opportunities for fraud that arose from the previous informal procedure.