Transferring a domain from a Nigerian host such as Whogohost, Qservers, SmartWeb, DomainKing or Web4Africa is the same ICANN process as anywhere else for a .com or .net, with two local twists. First, most of these companies are hosting providers that resell domains through a wholesale platform, so the "registrar" in your RDAP lookup is often a company you have never heard of, and the auth code comes from the host's client area rather than from that registrar. Second, if the name is a .ng or .com.ng, the rules come from NiRA, the Nigeria Internet Registration Association, not from ICANN.
The reasons people move are familiar: the domain was bundled with hosting and the renewal is now priced in a way that is hard to compare, the panel only shows prices in Naira with a quietly changing exchange rate, or the business has outgrown shared hosting and wants the domain somewhere independent of whichever host it uses next.
MailShrine Domains accepts transfers for 150+ extensions, and you can pay the one-year transfer fee by card in US dollars or in Naira through Paystack. The fee is shown before you pay, the year is added to your current expiry, and a rejected transfer is refunded in full. WHOIS privacy and transfer lock are free and on from the moment the name arrives.
Real-life example: Amaka's fabric business
Amaka Eze runs Eze Fabrics, a wholesale ankara and lace business in Lagos with a shop in Balogun Market and eight staff. Her nephew registered ezefabrics.com and ezefabrics.com.ng through a Nigerian host in 2020 along with a hosting plan the business no longer uses. The renewal invoice this year bundles both names with hosting at a Naira price that has doubled, and the login belongs to the nephew, who now lives in Calgary.
Amaka's goals:
- Get both names into an account she and her accountant control.
- Pay a renewal price she can see in advance, in Naira, without a hosting plan attached.
- Move the staff email off the host's cPanel mailboxes without losing a day of orders.
Who actually holds your domain
Run an RDAP lookup on the .com before anything else. The registrar field will usually show one of a handful of wholesale platforms rather than the Nigerian host itself.
| What the host sells as | Typical registrar of record | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Whogohost, Qservers, SmartWeb and similar | A wholesale registrar such as PDR Ltd (ResellerClub) or Realtime Register | The host is a reseller; you get the auth code from the host's client area |
| A NiRA-accredited registrar for .ng names | The host itself, if accredited; otherwise a NiRA registrar it resells for | .ng transfers run through NiRA's EPP registry, not ICANN |
| A "free domain with hosting" bundle | Often the host's own company as registrant | Check the registrant field; if it is the host, you need a change of registrant first |
That last row is the serious one. Some bundles were registered with the host's details as registrant, which means the host legally controls the name. Amaka's RDAP lookup shows the nephew as registrant, which is fine; she only needs his cooperation for the approval email.
.com versus .com.ng: two different rulebooks
| Rule | .com (Verisign, ICANN rules) | .com.ng (NiRA rules) |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer method | Auth code to the gaining registrar | Auth code (called domain password or EPP key) to a NiRA-accredited registrar |
| Who decides eligibility | ICANN Transfer Policy: 60-day lock after registration, transfer or registrant change | NiRA policy; no transfer within 60 days of registration and none for expired names |
| Losing registrar response window | 5 calendar days, then auto-approve | Set by NiRA; typically a few days |
| Year added on transfer | Yes, one year | Yes, one year is added at transfer |
| Dispute process | ICANN Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy | NiRA dispute resolution |
Check whether the extension you want to move is listed in MailShrine's transfer tool before you unlock anything. If .com.ng is not listed at the moment you check, move the .com first and handle the .com.ng with a NiRA-accredited registrar separately.
What you need before you start
| You need | Why |
|---|---|
| Login to the host's client area | Lock and auth code are under Domains, Manage, in most WHMCS-based panels |
| Cooperation of whoever is the registrant | The approval email goes to the registrant address |
| Domain older than 60 days, not expired | ICANN and NiRA both block transfers in these cases |
| A copy of the cPanel DNS zone | Zone Editor in cPanel; the zone is deleted when hosting is cancelled |
| A plan for staff email | cPanel mailboxes die with the hosting plan |
Step 1: Identify the registrant and the registrar
Use an RDAP lookup for the .com and NiRA's WHOIS for the .com.ng. Write down the registrant name, the registrant email, the registrar of record, the creation date and the expiry. Amaka learns the .com expires in 52 days and the nephew's old Yahoo address is the registrant email.
Step 2: Regain control of the account
If you do not have the login, ask the host for an account ownership change. Most require a signed letter on company letterhead plus ID, and the nephew's written consent. This can take a week, so start it first. Amaka's nephew simply shares the login and forwards the approval email, which is faster.
Step 3: Export the DNS zone from cPanel
In cPanel, open Zone Editor and record every entry. Amaka's zone has an A record for the website, a www CNAME, a single MX record pointing at the host's mail server, and an SPF record. She will replace the mail records entirely, so only the A record and CNAME need recreating.
Step 4: Rebuild DNS and mailboxes at MailShrine
In the DNS editor on the pending transfer, add the website records. For email, Amaka creates two free business mailboxes in Business Email and adds six more on the Team plan, one per staff member. MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records are provided for those mailboxes.
Step 5: Unlock and request the auth code
In the host's client area, go to Domains, Manage Domain, Registrar Lock, and switch it off. Then choose Get EPP Code. In WHMCS-based panels the code is emailed to the registrant address, which is the nephew's Yahoo. He forwards it.
Step 6: Submit the transfer and pay in Naira
Enter ezefabrics.com in MailShrine's transfer tool, paste the code and choose Paystack to pay the one-year fee in Naira. The code is checked against Verisign instantly.
Step 7: Approve the transfer
The wholesale registrar sends an approval email to the registrant address. The nephew clicks Approve and the transfer completes within the hour. Without his click it would complete after five calendar days anyway.
Step 8: Switch nameservers, then cancel hosting
Once the domain is in MailShrine, point the nameservers at MailShrine's. Give the staff a day to confirm mail arrives in the new mailboxes. Only then cancel the hosting plan; cancelling earlier would delete the old zone while the nameservers still pointed at it.
Amaka's checklist
- Ran RDAP and confirmed the nephew, not the host, is registrantCompleted
- Got the client-area login and the nephew's agreement to forward emailsCompleted
- Recorded the four cPanel zone entriesCompleted
- Created eight mailboxes at MailShrine and added the website recordsCompleted
- Turned off Registrar Lock and requested the EPP codeNot completed
- Submitted the transfer and paid in Naira via PaystackNot completed
- Switched nameservers, tested mail, then cancelled hostingNot completed
Common mistakes
Cancelling hosting before the transfer. The hosting plan holds the DNS zone and the mailboxes. Cancel it and both vanish while the domain still points at them. Transfer first, switch nameservers second, cancel third.
Assuming the host is the registrar. Complaints to ICANN name the registrar of record, not the reseller. If the host stalls on the auth code, contact the wholesale registrar shown in RDAP; they are bound by the five-day rule.
Transferring the .com.ng with the .com rules. NiRA has its own timeline and its own registrars. A .com auth code is useless for a .com.ng and the reverse.
Leaving the registrant as the nephew. After the transfer, update the registrant to the company and Amaka's own email. Doing it after rather than before avoids triggering the 60-day post-change lock in the middle of the move.
Check your work
Run RDAP on the .com and confirm the registrar has changed, the expiry is a year later and clientTransferProhibited is set by the new lock. Send a message from an outside address to a staff mailbox and reply from it. Load the website. If all three pass and the hosting invoice has stopped, the move is finished.
FAQ
Can I transfer a domain if the Nigerian host registered it in their own name?
Not directly. The host is the registrant, so they must either update the registrant to you or approve the transfer themselves. Ask in writing, keep the correspondence, and escalate to the wholesale registrar if they refuse without reason.
Does the host have to give me the EPP code?
For a gTLD, yes. ICANN requires the registrar of record to provide it within five calendar days of a registrant request, and the reseller agreement passes that obligation down. For .ng names, NiRA policy requires the same from accredited registrars.
Can I pay for the transfer in Naira?
Yes. MailShrine takes the one-year transfer fee by card in US dollars or in Naira through Paystack. The renewal price is shown before you pay.
Will my cPanel email keep working after the transfer?
Only while the hosting plan is active and the nameservers still point to it. Plan to replace cPanel mailboxes with real mailboxes elsewhere before cancelling hosting.
How long does the whole move take?
The .com transfer finishes within hours if the registrant approves. Account ownership changes at the host can take a week. Budget two weeks end to end and start more than ten days before expiry.
Next steps
- How to Transfer a Domain to Another Registrar — the full process for any registrar.
- How to Transfer a Domain to Someone Else (Change of Owner) — moving the registrant from a relative to the company.
- Why Your Domain Transfer Failed and How to Fix It — rejection reasons and remedies.
Citations & References
- Reference: NiRA: Nigeria Internet Registration Association
- Reference: ICANN: Transfer Policy
- Reference: ICANN: Registrant rights and responsibilities
- Reference: IANA: .ng delegation record
Written by Samira K., small-business editor. Samira has helped market traders, clinics and schools in Lagos and Abuja untangle domains from old hosting bundles.