IMPORTANT: The purpose of this policy is to describe the NIRA (“We”, “Our” or “Us”) rules for the registration and use of domain names within the .ng domain and its sub-domains (the “Policy”). The policy as amended from time to time form part of our Registrant Agreement and are part of your contract of registration with us.

Domain name Definitions
  1. “internet.com.ng” is a domain name (“Domain Name”). A Domain Name is made up of several levels of domains. In the Domain Name “internet.com.ng” the “.ng” is called the top-level domain, the “.com” is the second level domain and “internet” is the third level domain.
  2. In the Domain Name “fourth.internet.com.ng” the domain “fourth” is called a fourth level domain and “.internet” is a third level domain, “.com” is a second level domain and “.ng” is a top-level domain.
  3. In this Policy, the terms top-level domain (“TLD”), second-level domain (“SLD”) and third-level domain (“3LD”) and fourth level domain (“4LD”) will be used accordingly
  4. The 2LD is a sub-domain of the TLD. The 3LD is a sub-domain of the 2LD. The 4LD is a sub-domain of the 3LD.
  5. The NiRA Executive Board of Directors may auction or sell at a premium, limited domains on the 2LD and/or 3LD.
  6. When an application for registration of a Domain Name is submitted to us by you, or on your behalf, you are an applicant. If your application is successful, your Domain Name will be registered by us and you will be the registrant.
Registration of Domain names
  1. The Policy has been made by us in our capacity as the designated manager for the .ng TLD with the authority of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
  2. Each application by you for a Domain Name must be an application to register within one particular SLD listed in Appendix A. Or in the case of section e above, the application can be for a domain at the s2LD or 3LD.
  3. Certain organizations have registered Domain Names with us and these organizations may offer to register a 4LD for you as a sub-domain of their Domain Name. We do not register or take responsibility for any registration of 4LD by you with other organizations, nor do we control the naming of this 4LD by this Policy or otherwise.
  4. Each SLD listed in Appendix A has its own specific rules (“SLD Rules”). All of the SLD Rules form part of the Policy. Where there is a conflict between the Policy and the SLD Rules, the SLD Rules take precedence.
  5. If your application to register a Domain Name within an SLD listed in Appendix A is successful, this in no way entitles you to any right to or registration of any other Domain Name. For example, an application to register the Domain Name internet.com.ng will not entitle you to register the Domain Name internet.xyz.com.ng or the Domain Name internet.org.ng.
  6. A domain name license entitles the licensee/registrant to use the domain name provided the terms and conditions for its use as stipulated by NiRA Rules and policies are complied with by the licensee/registrant.
General Rules
  1. We reserve the right to check your application for compliance with all NiRA Policies either before or after your Domain Name is registered or renewed with us.
  2. We will accept applications that comply with the NiRA Policies and register Domain Names on a first-come-first-served basis.
  3. If your application is for a Domain Name which is identical to a Domain Name which has already been registered with us, your application will be rejected. Note that domain names are not case sensitive so that internet.com.ng is the same as InTeRnEt.com.ng, and accordingly cannot be separately registered. Thus this Policy is drafted on the assumption that all letters are lower case.
  4. We do not impose restrictions on your status as applicant for the registration of a Domain Name in the following SLDs (“Open SLDs”):
    • .com.ng; or
    • .org.ng.
    • .mobi.ng
    • .name.ng
    • .i.ng
    • .ng
  1. We do set out certain intentions regarding the class of applicant or use of registrations of the Domain Name which you will comply with when applying for a registration of a Domain Name within an Open SLD. However, we will take no action in respect of registrations that do not comply with the SLD Charters. We may request certain information from you regarding your legal identity when you make an application for or seek to amend the registration of a Domain Name in the Open SLDs.
  2. For any application by you for a Domain Name within the remaining available SLDs listed in Appendix A (“Closed SLDs”) we do specify certain criteria in the “Requirements on Applicants” section of the SLD Rules which you must comply with before your application for a Domain Name in a Closed SLD can be accepted by us.
  3. As set out in our Registrant Agreement, we may cancel or suspend the registration of a domain name if you breach any of the Rules.
Restrictions on Domain names
  1. If the 2LD, 3LD or 4LD in your application does not meet the requirements in this section then your application cannot be accepted by us.
  2. The 2LD, 3LD or 4LD may only contain the following thirty-seven characters (“Characters”) or a combination thereof:
    • the twenty-six unaccented Roman letters (i.e. a-z inclusive);
    • the ten western digits (i.e. 0-9 inclusive); and
    • hyphens.
  3. The first or last Characters of a 2LD, 3LD or 4LD may not be a hyphen.
  4. The domain name must not consist of ONLY numeric characters.
  5. NIRA does not offer Internationalised Domain Names for now and so domain names that start with the characters “xn--” (i.e. “xn” followed by two dashes) may not be registered.
  6. A Second, Third Level or Fourth Level Domain may not be one Character long. For example, an application to register 1.com.ng or a.com.ng would be rejected. Except offered by auction at the second or third level.
  7. For the SLDs (com.ng, name.ng, org.ng, net.ng, mobi.ng, .i.ng, mil.ng, edu.ng, sch.ng and .gov.ng) a 3LD may not be identical to any existing 2LD (as listed in Appendices A, to the Policy), or any SLD under .ng the creation of which has formally been announced by NiRA. For example, an application to register org.com.ng or name.com.ng would be rejected.
  8. Until further notice, the Domain Name (e.g. internet.com.ng) may not be more than sixty-four Characters long in total, including the 2LD and TLD. We intend to allow longer domain names in future, and would update the policy accordingly.
  9. For the 2LDs (com.ng, name.ng, org.ng, net.ng, mobi.ng, .i.ng, mil.ng, edu.ng, sch.ng and, .gov.ng), a 3LD may not be identical to any existing 2LD (as listed in Appendices A, to the Policy), or any SLD under .ng the creation of which has formally been announced by NIRA. For example, an application to register org.com.ng or name.com.ng would be rejected.
  10. Irrespective of the above NIRA shall reserve the right to maintain the following list of domains that SHALL NOT be available for registration or will be withdrawn if registered already
    • Offensive names: This list shall contain words as determined by the NIRA Board of Directors to be offensive first to the Nigerian community and then to the global community. ALL requests for domains under this list would be rejected.
    • Restricted names: This shall be a list of domains that may give a wrong impression if used. This could pertain to the military, government or other related words. ALL applications for these domains would be rejected.
    • GeoNames: This list shall contain words as determined by NiRA Executive Board of Directors as geographical and place names.
    • Premium names: These are domains with generic words ONLY but command premium value. These domains would be made available to registrants through a competitive bidding and auction process.
    • Existing Nigerian Trademarks: These are domains which contain words which violate any existing trademark registered in Nigeria unless the consent of the trademark owner has been obtained.
Appendices

APPENDIX A Our SLDs (second-level domains)

Domain SLD purpose
  1. com.ng Commercial entities and purposes (Open)
  2. edu.ng Higher and further education and research institution (Closed)
  3. name.ng Personal names (Open)
  4. net.ng Internet Service / Telecoms Providers’ infrastructure (Closed)
  5. org.ng Not-for-profit entities (Open)
  6. sch.ng Other Academic institutions (Closed and at regional level)
  7. gov.ng National, regional, and local government bodies and agencies (Closed)
  8. mil.ng Military and related purposes (Closed)
  9. mobi.ng For mobile devices meeting .mobi gTLD standards (Open)
  10. .i.ng General purpose for individuals and organisations, public and private (Open)
Specific Rules for registration in the .com.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .com.ng SLD, administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterDomain Names registered in the .com.ng SLD are intended to be used for commercial purposes, and the 3LD are intended to reflect and be related to these purposes. This SLD would be fully open from July 5, 2008, before then only entities with Nigerian presence may register within this SLD.
Specific Rules for registration in the .org.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .org.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterRegistrants in .org.ng are intended to be not-for-profit or public service enterprises and a 3LD within this SLD is intended to be related to these enterprises and their activities. These may include, as non- exhaustive examples, charities, trades unions, political parties, community groups, educational councils, and professional institutions.
Specific rules for the .name.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .name.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterThe .name.ng SLD is intended to provide a personal namespace within the .ng Top Level Domain. Unless Rules d apply, registrants of .name.ng domain names must be, and remain at all times, natural persons (a “qualifying person”), and shall not be recorded on the register as being the agent, trustee, proxy or representative for any person or entity (whether having an individual legal personality or not) which is not a qualifying person.
  3. No actions unless in accordance with the CharterUnless Rules d applies, no registration, transfer, renewal or change may be requested to a .name.ng domain name, which would be in breach of Rule 8.b, and any such request may be rejected. If despite the previous sentence, such an action is requested and does occur, NIRA may reverse that action at any time in addition to any other rights NIRA may have by contract or otherwise.
  4. Charter
    1. Where, as the result of the Dispute Resolution Service or judicial proceedings (of relevant jurisdiction) a .name.ng domain name is to be transferred to a person who would not qualify under Rule b (the “transferee”), the transfer to, and continued registration by, the transferee shall be permitted provided that no use is made of that .name.ng domain name for any purpose, for so long as the transferee holds the domain name.
    2. To prevent a breach of Rule d.1, NIRA may put the domain name into a special status e.g. by blocking the entry of any name servers onto the record for that domain.
    3. The transferee under clause d.1 will be able to transfer the domain name to a qualifying person, in which case the specific restrictions imposed under this Rule d will cease to apply.
Specific rules for the .edu.ng SLDs
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .edu.ng SLDs administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterThe .edu.ng SLD is a closed one and reserved for ONLY tertiary academic institutions as approved and accredited by the relevant authorities like Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), NCCE and any other body as recognized by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
  3. RulesAll registrations on the .edu.ng SLD would be at the 3LD. Various departments or institutions under the qualifying institution may then be sub-domains and NOT full domains.
  4. Requirements
    1. Registrants in the .edu.ng SLDs are required to be approved and accredited Degree Awarding Tertiary Institutions. Notwithstanding the Policy, no Domain Name shall be registered in this SLDUnless, in our reasonable opinion, the applicant is an approved/registered Degree awarding institution and the Domain Name registered is the same as or a similar variant of the applicant’s name.
    2. Without prejudice to any other test that we may apply, the applicant shall only be deemed to be an Approved/Registered School if the applicant:
      • is either duly registered or incorporated under the relevant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
      • AND the applicant has a provisional or full approval by the relevant accreditation body and government for the provision of Degree awarding institutions. For example for a university, it must have an NUC approval.
    3. Any Domain Name registered in .edu.ng may only be used in the manner set out in this Clause, and we may suspend or cancel the registration if we believe it is not being so used, in accordance with the termination provisions set out in our Registrant Agreement.
    4. Each approved/registered tertiary institution may apply for multiple domains ONLY if it relates to the academic institution and NOT a department or unit of the academic institution
Specific rules for the .net.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .net.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Rules.
  2. CharterThis SLD is reserved for the computers of network providers, that is, the network information centre (NIC) and network operation centre (NOC) computers, the administrative computers, and the network node computers.
  3. SLD Requirements
    1. Registrants in the .net.ng SLDs are required to be Licensed Internet Service or Telecoms Providers. Notwithstanding the Policy, no Domain Name shall be registered in this SLD unless, in our reasonable opinion, the applicant is a Licensed Internet Service / Telecoms Provider and the Domain Name registered is the same as or a similar variant of the applicant’s name.
    2. Without prejudice to any other test that we may apply, the applicant shall only be deemed to be a Licensed Internet Service / Telecoms Provider if:
      1. The applicant is either:
        • a company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria; or
        • a partnership as defined by the Partnership laws of Nigeria or
        • a sole trader;
      2. and the applicant is:
        • Licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission for the provision of Internet and Telecoms services
      3. Any Domain Name registered in .net.ng may only be used in the manner set out in this Clause, and we may suspend or cancel the registration if we believe it is not being so used, in accordance with the termination provisions set out in our Registrant Agreement.
      4. The Domain Name must not be used in connection with any service provided by the registrant on behalf of any other entity. For example, the Domain Name must not be used as part of another entity’s e-mail address or URL.
Specific rules for the .sch.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .sch.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterThe .sch.ng SLD is a closed one and reserved for both primary and secondary schools as designated and approved by various levels of government. Also, schools accredited and approved by other agencies like the CPN are eligible for registration under this domain.
  3. RulesAll registrations on the .sch.ng SLD can now be registered at the 3LD.  Approving authorities for schools are at the local and state government levels.
  4. SLD Requirements
    1. Registrants in the .sch.ng SLDs are required to be approved Primary, Secondary or other non-degree awarding institutions. Notwithstanding the Policy, no Domain Name shall be registered in this SLD unless, in our reasonable opinion, the applicant is an approved/registered non-degree awarding institution and the Domain Name registered is the same as or a similar variant of the applicant’s name
    2. Without prejudice to any other test that we may apply, the applicant shall only be deemed to be an Approved/Registered School if:
      1. the applicant is either:
        • a company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria; or
        • a partnership as defined by the Partnership laws of Nigeria or
        • a sole trader/registered business name;
      2. AND the applicant is:
        • Approved and registered by the relevant accreditation body and government for the provision of Non Degree awarding institutions.
    3. Any Domain Name registered in .sch.ng may only be used in the manner set out in this Clause, and we may suspend or cancel the registration if we believe it is not being so used, in accordance with the termination provisions set out in our Registrant Agreement.
    4. Each approved/registered school is only allowed a single registration under the .sch.ng SLD.
Specific Rules for registration in the .mobi.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .mobi.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterDomain Names registered in the .mobi.ng SLD are intended to be used for access by mobile phones, and the 3LD are intended to reflect and be related to these purposes. Also published content on this SLD are expected to meet the specification as released from time to time of the Mobile Top Level domain corporation and as adopted by NIRA.
Specific rules for the .gov.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .gov.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterThe .gov.ng SLD is closed and limited only to the following
    1. Governments at all levels and
    2. Ministries, Department and Agencies at all levels as well.
  3. RulesRegistrations on the .gov.ng SLD would be both on the 3LD and the 4LD. Registration at the 3LD is ONLY permitted for the following
    1. The Federal government
    2. The State government
    3. Federal Ministries, Departments, Parastatals and Institutions
  4. For example justice.gov.ng, npc.gov.ng, ogunstate.gov.ng, nigeria.gov.ng, etc. For registrations on the 4LD is ONLY permitted for the following
    1. State Ministries, Departments, Parastatals and Institutions
    2. Local governments
  5. For example, justice.lagos.gov.ng would be for the Lagos State Ministry of Justice. Also, surulere.lagos.gov.ng and surulere.oyo.gov.ng would relate to Surulere local government in Lagos and Oyo states respectively. The 3LD to be used by the 4LD would be the state names as derived from the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
  6. SLD Requirements
    1. Registrants in the .gov.ng SLD are required to be full government agencies and also have the approval of each tier of government.
    2. For Federal government registration, applicants are expected to also obtain clearance from the federal government entity setup for such approval and present same during registration. For example NITDA.
    3. For State government registration, applicants are expected to also obtain clearance from the state government entity setup or designated for such approval and present same during registration.
    4. For Local government registration, applicants are expected to attach a valid authorization from the local government, and present same during registration.
    5. All the verification of the .gov.ng domain names, before the domain activation by NiRA, is conducted by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Specific Rules for registration in the .mil.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .mil.ng SLD administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.
  2. SLD CharterDomain Names registered in the .mil.ng SLD are intended to be used ONLY for military purposes and as approved by the Nigerian military High command.
  3. RulesRegistrations on the .mil.ng SLD would be both on the 3LD and the 4LD.
  4. SLD RequirementsFor Federal Government registration, applicants are expected to also obtain clearance from the Federal Government entity setup for such approval, and present same during registration. For example, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).All the verification of the .mil.ng domain names, before the domain activation by NiRA, is conducted by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Specific Rules for registration in the .i.ng SLD
  1. IntroductionThese are the specific rules for the .i.ng SLD, administered directly by us. They form part of and, in the case of conflict, take precedence over the Policy.NiRA had provided a sunrise protection for registered domain names ending with ‘*i.ng’ by extracting and reserving the ‘*.i.ng’ version of a period of 30 days from 8th May 2015 to 7th June 2015.After the sunrise period, all the unregistered ‘*.i.ng’ version of registered domain names ending with ‘*i.ng’ were made available for registration to anyone. The Notice and sunrise protection was communicated to the Registrars of affected Registrants for action.
  2. SLD CharterDomain Names registered in the .i.ng SLD are intended to be used for general purposes by individuals, organisations, private and public and the 3LD are intended to reflect and be related to such general purposes. This SLD is fully open to all individuals and entities local or international.