Stop going to depose to an affidavit and doing newspapers' publications for official change of name because that process does not make the change valid. 

The Supreme Court in the case of P.D.P. v. Degi-Eremienyo gave the actual procedure for change of name, correction of name and alteration of name in Nigeria.  

If you do not follow the procedure, then you have not done official change, correction or alteration of names. 

Now, to officially change your name in Nigeria, you must follow the following steps:

👉You must sign a Deed Poll. A Deed Poll is a Deed of Change of Name. 

A Deed Poll is a legal document made and executed/signed by only one person in the presence of at least two witnesses and the two witnesses must also sign it. 

👉The Deed Poll MUST be prepared by a lawyer and must have the lawyer's seal. This means you will need the services of a lawyer for the drafting. 

Once the deed poll is signed by the person who wants to use it, it becomes binding on the person and shows an intention to change, correct or alter names and use a new name for all purposes. 

👉An application letter for the change that is addressed to the 'Chairman, National Population Commission' MUST be written. 

👉Approach the Legal Department at the National Population Commission (NPC) with the signed Deed Poll and letter for submission. 

👉For now, all applications MUST be submitted at NPC's Abuja office. 

However, NPC is putting plans in place to set up the portal for online applications and make it digital so people can apply online. 

👉Once they finalize the process, applicants will be called and informed about the amount they will pay for the publication. They have not decided on the amount yet. 

👉Once payment is made, the publication will be made in the official gazette and a certificate of change of name will be issued to the applicant. 

A Gazette is an official publication of the Federal or State Government in which official information such as notices and other legal matters are reported. It replaces newspapers publication. 

Once it is published in the Gazette, it gives credibility and acceptance of the change of name and serve as a notice to the whole world. 

Some banks are also taking note of this new requirement now so when you go for change of name at the bank, they will ask you to go through this procedure. 

The Supreme Court also held that those who have used affidavit and newspapers' publication for change of name have actually not done official change of name. 😂 Yours is unofficial! You will have to repeat the process. 

Before you talk about changing your surname after marriage now, be prepared for these procedures.

If you want to go through the official change of name process, act now and have your application submitted before they commence strict procedure online. 

They also want to ensure that not all lawyers can prepare an approved Deed Poll for this purpose.

So, lawyers will have to apply to get license/accredited for using the portal that will be created just as lawyers are accredited for CAC activities. 

This does not apply to women only. Men also change their names for many reasons.