Licences and permits
Apply for, renew and track the licences Abia State's ministries issue — hospitality establishments, private schools, health facilities, environmental permits and produce operators — online, with every step tracked and every licence verifiable by its QR code.
What do you want to do?
Choose what describes you. Where it takes more than one licence, they are listed in the order you need them.
Run a hotel, guest house, restaurant or event centre
The business needs an operating licence for the year. It is charged against the business's statutory hospitality demand notice.
Open a private nursery, primary or secondary school
Register the school and have it inspected and approved by the Ministry for its level.
Open a private hospital, clinic, laboratory or pharmacy
Register the facility with the Ministry of Health before it opens to patients.
Start a project that needs an environmental impact assessment
Have the EIA approved before work starts, then license the facility once it operates.
Run a quarry, factory, filling station or waste operation
A regulated facility needs the Ministry of Environment's operating licence for the year.
Practise as an environmental consultant
Be accredited to prepare EIAs and environmental audits in Abia State.
Buy, store, process or export farm produce
Produce merchants, buying agents, exporters and store keepers register with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce.
Renew a licence you hold
Have the licence number (or its reference) and the holder's ABSSIN to hand. Renewal opens 90 days before the licence expires.
The ministries that license online
Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy
Licences for hotels, guest houses, restaurants, event centres and other hospitality and tourism businesses.
See its licencesMinistry of Education
Registration, approval and yearly renewal of private nursery, primary and secondary schools.
See its licencesMinistry of Health
Registration and renewal of private hospitals, clinics, maternity homes, laboratories and other health facilities.
See its licencesMinistry of Environment
Operating licences for regulated facilities, accreditation of environmental consultants, and Environmental Impact Assessment approvals.
See its licencesMinistry of Trade and Commerce
Registration of produce merchants, buying agents and produce stores.
See its licencesHow licensing works
- Confirm your ABSSIN. A code goes to the phone already on the ABSSIN record — a business applies with its business ABSSIN, so nobody can apply in its name with the number alone.
- Apply for the licence you need. The form asks only what your situation calls for, and lists exactly the documents to upload. You can save and come back.
- The agency reviews it. Its desk checks your documents and, for a company, its directors against the CAC record. Where the licence calls for it, an inspector visits the premises.
- The Board of Internal Revenue assesses it and sends you one notice to pay — after it has checked the holder's tax clearance, and every director's.
- Approval and issue. Approvals are decided by officers who took no other part in the case. Your licence carries a QR code anyone can scan to confirm it.
- Renew it on time. We remind you 60, 30 and 7 days before it expires; renewal keeps the same reference with -R01, -R02 … added.
Before you start
- The holder's ABSSIN — a business's own business ABSSIN, or your personal one — and access to the phone on its record. Get an ABSSIN or update the phone first if needed.
- For a company: its CAC registration number, its CAC status report, and every director's ABSSIN.
- Clear scans or photographs of the documents the licence asks for (PDF, JPG or PNG).
- A current tax clearance for the holder and its directors — the Board of Internal Revenue checks it before the licence can be issued.