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Land Documents In Nigeria

It's me explaining land documents in Nigeria


Land Documents In Nigeria

 I once shared a story, on my Facebook and WhatsApp platform, of how a man in my street got scammed of N6000,000!

A man needed to get a land in Nigeria, and he met this Omonile guys in Lagos, so he told the Omonile guys that he needed a land,

They showed him a land, he liked it, and he paid for it,

Only for him to come back and check the land, after 3months,

And discovered that a strange man had already laid foundation on his own land! and he was there inspecting the work going on.

The man then confronted the strange man, “Oga what are you doing on my land!”

Then the strange man replied him saying “Oga I’m the original owner of this land, these are my land documents.

Please Note: that whenever you buy a land, there ought to be a land document backing it up! to avoid being defrauded And deal with a reputable and registered real estate company for your safety.

Today I'll be sharing with you about the land documents in Nigeria.

  • CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
 This document Shows that you now have the legal right to a property.  This  is an officially recognized and most popular land document we have in Nigeria.

It is an important land document to a landowner. The C of O also usually contains the usage of the land either for residential, commercial or mixed development purposes. 

It is issued by the State Government to landowners and property buyers as proof of ownership of land and it leases the land under which it is issued to the applicant for a definite period of 99years. 

Section 5(1) of the Land Use Act states that "it shall be lawful for the Governor in respect of land whether or not in an urban area to grant the statutory right of ownership to any person for all purposes.

Section 9 of the Act goes further to state that it shall be lawful for the Governor when a person is entitled to a statutory right of occupancy; to issue a certificate under his hand in evidence of such right of occupancy. Such a Certificate is called a Certificate of Occupancy.

There are benefits of having a Certificate of Occupancy and some of the benefits are that it grants the bearer of the name in the land document the exclusive ownership of the land; 

it can be accepted as a form of security or collateral to obtain loans from the bank or other financial institutions and it prevents a claim of multiple ownership.

The Certificate of Occupancy can be obtained from the state government in which the land is situated, and the requirements differ from state to state.

  • DEED OF ASSIGNMENT
This document, shows the agreement between the seller of the property, and the buyer, showing the evidence that the seller has transferred all his rights of the land to the buyer.

Upon the exchange of the deed of assignment, and the registration of the document at the land registry, the land or property becomes completely and legally owned by the buyer of the property


There are various land documents in Lagos relevant to buying a house in Lagos Nigeria. 

Buying a house in Nigeria is an important activity, therefore, any individual, company or entity that intends to purchase or sell landed properties must understand and be in full knowledge of the types of documents that govern land transactions in Nigeria.

  • RECEIPT
This shows, that the seller has received his/her money, for the purchase of the property.

  • GOVERNORS CONSENT
You need to obtain this document, so you can have peace of mind. 

When a land with Certificate of Occupancy is sold to another person it is required that such a person must now obtain the Consent of the Governor before that transaction can be deemed legal in the eyes of the Government. 

As the name sounds, a governor’s consent means the governor consented to the transaction; the transfer of ownership of a parcel of land with certificate of Occupancy from one person to the other.

  • SURVEY PLAN
This document helps you know if the land is free from government acquisition. A Survey Plan is a land document used to shows the true ownership status of land in Nigeria.

 The survey plan shows the boundary measurement and coordinates of a parcel of land, giving an exact measurement and full description of the land. 

The Survey Plan can also help to reveal whether the land to be transacted is under any government acquisition or not.

A survey plan is regulated by the office of the Surveyor-General of the State where the land is located. 

A property can be sold to a buyer with only the survey plan as the evidence of ownership in the land, where this occurs, the buyer must conduct a due diligence search at the office of the Surveyor-General to authenticate the true ownership of the survey plan before purchasing the land. 

The buyer owes himself the duty of ensuring that his ownership in the land purchased is perfectly secured by perfecting his title at the appropriate government Land Register in the State where the land is located.


  • EXCISION AND GAZETTE
To excise a land means to cut it. This is the process whereby the government releases a parcel of land back to the indigenous owners of such lands for the purpose of residential and commercial developments. 

When this excised parcel of land is published in government official gazette such a land is said to have Gazette as title. 

Excision and gazette are very good titles for a piece of land; such lands are safe to buy and develop. 

The gazette then becomes the title on the land and such land is safe to buy because a proper title can be processed on the land.



You see buying a property in Nigeria needs adequate knowledge and as well working with registered companies. 

Therefore I can guild you through this wonderful process. You have more questions?Feel free to ask.

You can check out some of our lands for sale here.



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