The Chartered Institute of Certified Secretaries & Reporters of Nigeria was founded in March 1981 and incorporated under Nigerian Companies and Allied Matters (CAM) Act 1 of 1990 with the consent of the Attorney-General of the Federation in 1994 as a non-profit
making professional body limited by guarantee.
In the quest to obtain added legal impetus to be able to carry out the functions of setting standard and regulating the practice of the profession, the Institute, with the support of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation as National Patron
and Supervisory Office, submitted request for an Act of the National Assembly in October 2000.
The Bill was duly gazette but could not be concluded by 2003. Subsequently HB 43 was further gazette in 2003 which went through due legislative processes including a public hearing in July 2004.
The two chambers of the National Assembly, after all due processes and rigorous legislative procedures, successfully passed the Bill and harmonized versions in February 2007 to enact the Act No. 16 of 2015, which ultimately established the Chartered Institute
of Certified Secretaries & Reporters. The Institute is responsible for regulating Office Technology and Management studies and professional practice in Nigeria.
The Act makes it illegal to practice the profession as stipulated either privately or by employment for remuneration without membership registration with the Institute; an offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment.