Today, a lot of people in Lagos and Ogun State ignorantly acquire lands they know are under government acquisition under the misconception that all government lands can be ratified or regularized. Fraudulent land sellers capitalize on this misconception to sell unavailable government lands to unsuspecting buyers with an assurance that the process of ratification or regularization transfers legal title to them but this could not be further from the truth.

Indeed, there are lands designated as government acquired lands in the states of the federation of Nigeria and these are clearly mapped out in each state’s master plan. These designated lands falls under two main categories in Lagos and Ogun State and they are lands under committed government acquisition and lands under compulsory government acquisition .The difference between the two is that one can be ratified or regularized and the other cannot.

What is ratification or regularization? Ratification or regularization is simply the process of obtaining legal title to a land designated as government acquired land.

The question then is which of the categories of lands can be ratified or regularized and which cannot? Lands under compulsory government acquisition can be ratified while those under committed government acquisition can never be ratified .Whether a land falls under committed government acquisition or compulsory government acquisition is determined by a process called land charting and not by examining with the physical eyes the survey plan presented by the seller as proof of his title to the land.

Land charting is applying to the office of the Surveyor-General and having the co-ordinates on the survey plan presented by the seller checked against the co-ordinates on the state’s master plan to determine if it falls under committed or compulsory government acquired land. The better option, regardless of the survey plan presented by the seller is to invite an officer of the Surveyor- General’s office to pick co-ordinates from the land with a surveying instrument, take it to the office and check it against the co-ordinates on the master plan of the state to determine the status of the land.

It is safe to consider buying a land ‘officially’ found to fall under compulsory government acquisition in Lagos and Ogun State. The buyer just has to do the needful by applying to the Land Registry for ratification or regularization and thereafter have legal title to the land. However, it is not safe to consider buying a land ‘officially’ found to fall under committed government acquisition .A prospective buyer of such a land can only do one thing and that is walk away from such a transaction because there is no way the land will ever be ratified or regularized.

The true position therefore, is that properties under government acquisition in Lagos and Ogun State can be ratified or regularized but not all the properties under government acquisition can be ratified or regularized.