A search for NAFDAC registration help turns up plenty of consultants offering to handle it for you. NAFDAC's own position on that is worth knowing before you pay anyone.
What NAFDAC itself says about consultants
NAFDAC's MSME guidance is direct: NAFDAC does not encourage the use of consultants, and using one is at your own risk. That is not a neutral stance. It is a caution aimed squarely at small producers.
In mid-2026, NAFDAC's Director-General repeated the warning publicly, saying MSMEs were being overcharged by consultants for a process that does not require one.
What a consultant actually does for you
A consultant typically fills in the online form, gathers your documents, and tracks the application on your behalf. None of that work is technically difficult. It is mostly time and attention to detail.
For a business owner with no spare hours in a week, that time saving has real value. It is a trade worth naming clearly, not a legal requirement dressed up as one.
Where overcharging tends to happen
The most common pattern is a flat "package" fee well above the micro-scale registration cost, with no breakdown of what portion is NAFDAC's own charge. Our guide to NAFDAC's registration fees sets out the real figures to compare against.
A second pattern is a promise of a faster result than NAFDAC's own stated timeline. NAFDAC's process runs on its own schedule, not a consultant's.
Doing it yourself on the portal
The application sits on a public portal, registration.nafdac.gov.ng, open to any applicant with the right documents ready. Our guide to registering a product walks through each step in order.
Most of the difficulty in a first application comes from missing or unclear documents, not from the form itself. Solve that problem first, and the rest is straightforward.
When paying for help still makes sense
If your time is genuinely scarce, or your product sits in a more complex category, paying someone to handle the paperwork is a fair choice. What matters is knowing the registration itself carries a fixed, published fee regardless of who submits it.
Treat any invoice as a service charge for someone's time, not a government cost being passed on at a markup.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a consultant is required to register at all. NAFDAC's own guidance says otherwise.
- Paying for a promised faster timeline. NAFDAC's process runs on its own schedule either way.
- Accepting a bundled fee with no breakdown. Ask what portion is the government charge and what portion is service time.
- Avoiding the portal out of habit rather than need. A small producer with documents ready can usually manage the form directly.
For the rest of this series, see the SME regulators hub.