What Your Seal Represents

1

You are appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria

Section 1 of the Notaries Public Act 2023 empowers the Chief Justice to appoint any fit and proper legal practitioner as a Notary Public. As an officer of the Supreme Court, you carry personal responsibility, criminal and civil, for your notarial work.

2

You are not the only kind of notary the law recognises

Magistrates and Customs and Excise officials at Nigeria’s ports serve as ex officio notaries. They may only act when a commissioned notary is unavailable, and Customs officials may only notarise maritime related documents.

3

Your seal authenticates the act, not just the document

The seal is the official emblem of your authority. Affixed to a document, it is what determines whether that document is treated as genuine or forged.

4

A properly affixed seal makes a claim about you specifically

It identifies you by name, role, and registration number, and signals that you personally verified the signatory’s identity and executed the certificate according to law.

Forged seals are illegal. The Act prescribes fines and prison terms for anyone who fraudulently uses a notary’s stamp. Symbolically, your seal ties your commission from the Supreme Court directly to the document, carrying public faith and judicial oversight into every transaction it touches.