VALID LAND TITLE YOU MAY CONSIDER WHEN BUYING LAND OR LANDED PROPERTY.


Several times I have been asked by clients and other members of the public the best title a landed property should possess before it can be deemed worthy for buying as well as other necessary documents to demand from the vendor. A lot of people believed that the Certificate of Occupancy is the only legitimate land title a property/land must possess or be demanded for before buying a land. This assumption is untrue as there are other vital land documents a buyer must ask for before paying for any land. As an example many people would not bother to demand for a Survey Plan on a land or get duly executed deed of Assignment after buying forgetting that this document is among the important land documents to havebecause without this, it means that there was no transaction at all, no proof to show that the interest in the land/landed property has been transferred to a new buyer. There must be a deed of assignment between the land vendor and the new buyer duly signed by both parties, this could later be perfected by processing the Governor’s consent or Minister’s Consent in the case of Federal land. Surprisingly, many only have purchase receipt issued them by the land vendor and to "sleep", no survey plan in their names, nothing more. That could be very dangerous should their be a dispute on the land later on.


Other valid title documents to demand from a vendor when buying land or landed property are the following:

SURVEY PLAN:

This document is highly important as it shows the boundary measurements of a parcel of land and gives accurate measurement and description of that land. Land Surveyors are the people who handle survey issues and they are being regulated by the office of the Surveyor General of the state where the land is located. A Survey Plan is a very important land document you must ask for whenever you are buying a land. In the real sense, it is the most important document because it is with this document that a prospective buyer will be able to know in-depth details about the land.

It is with a Survey Plan that one will be able to do a search (charting) to know if the land is free from Government acquisition or not. In my opinion, whenever one is negotiating for a land to buy, first ask for the Survey Plan and then take it to a professional to conduct a land search at the Surveyor General’s Office so as to know if the land is free from government acquisition or not and to know what are the zoning restrictions for the area where the land is located. A Survey Plan helps you to know if the land is within Agricultural, Residential, Industrial or a Commercial Zone so you won’t buy a land within Agricultural Zone when your intention is develop the land for residential purpose
.
No matter how enticing or attractive a land may look, once you find out that the Land is within government acquired land, please stay away from that land don’t say because others are buying and nothing has happened yet so nothing will happen, I can bet you any ugly situation might happen that such a buyer will regret.

Having said the above, the following are what makes a Survey Plan Authentic:

The name of the owner of the land surveyed must be written at the top.
The Address or description of the land surveyed must be written on it.
The size of the land surveyed must be written on it.
The drawn out portion of the land survey and mapped out on the survey plan document.
The beacon numbers must appear.
The surveyor who drew up the survey plan and the date it was drawn up.
Official stamp of the State Survey Department showing that the land is either free from Government acquisition or not.
The Survey Plan number must be written on it. (This can be used to search at the State Survey Department or at the office of the State Surveyor General to determine is the Survey is registered with the government.

Note: A buyer could also take an independent registered surveyor to the site to take the land coordinates to be sure the coordinates on the survey plan has not been altered.


EXCISION:

Before the advent of the Land Use Act, the traditional families are the custodians of land; they are the ones who determine which land will be sold and which one they will keep. Because of this power possessed on land by the families, many refused to sell land to individuals who need it, rather give it out to them under tenancy system and that made them to still have full control over such land a situation that made it very difficult for anyone who wants to buy land to get one.

As a result of this and some other reasons, it finally led to the proclamation of the Land Use Decree (now Act) on the 28th of March, 1978 and that vested all lands in every state of the Federation under the control of the State Governors. The Land Use Act coupled with other laws made it possible for the Governor who is now the owner of all lands in the state to actually have the power to acquire more lands compulsorily for its own public purpose to provide amenities for the greater good of the citizens.

Fortunately, the government still recognizes that indigenes of different sections of the country have a right to existence, a right to the land of their birth. Hence, it is customary for state government to cede a portion of land to the original owners (natives) of each area and that gave birth to what is known as excision. Excision simply means taking a part from a whole and that part that has been excised, will be recorded and documented in the official government record called gazzette of that state.

What this implies is that any land that has been excised and recorded in the state official Gazette is a good one to buy. However, make sure you demand for a copy of the excision letter issued to the community and the land registration details in the state gazzette sucb as the page, volume and yesr for verification at the land registry before you part with money.

In other words, land that does not have excision could be seized by the Government anytime without compensating you even if you bought it “Legitimately” from the Baale or the Original dwellers on the land.

(C) GAZETTE
According to the Land Use Act all land belongs to the government so the Governor is the owner of all land even the one in your village, and he alone will determine what to do with the land not even your Igwe, Oba or Emir. So it is only when the Governor has taken the land he want to use that he give the remaining to the traditional family to do whatever they want to do with it.

As explained earlier, gazzette is an Official record book where all special government details are spelt out, detailed and recorded. A Gazette will show the communities or villages that have been granted excision and the number of acres or hectares of land that the government has given to them. It is within those excised acres or hectares that the traditional family is entitled to sell its lands to the public and not anything outside those hectares of land given or excised to them.

A Gazette is a very powerful instrument the community owns and can replace a Certificate of Occupancy to grant title to the Villagers. If in future the government decides to revoke or acquire the land for public interest, you will be entitled to compensation as long as it’s within the Excised lands given to that community.

The best way to know whether a land is under acquisition or has an excision that has been covered by a Gazette is to get a surveyor to chart the site and take it to the surveyor general’s office to do a land information search so as to confirm whether it falls within the gazette and spell out which particular location it can be found.


The Following Are Features of a Gazette:

The first page of a Gazette must have the following unless it is a dubious or fake Gazette
a. The Logo of the Country and the inscription of the title e.g“LAGOS STATE OF NIGERIA OFFICIAL GAZETTE”
b. Underneath it must have the Number, Volume, Page, Date and the Location it was signed into law e.g No 26 in pages 200 to 291, Volume 87 dated 14th of August 2011 and have the contents of the list of the Villages, Settlements and parcels of land excised back to the community.
The Inner pages will show the following:
a. The description of the Area or Village excised
b. The number of Acres or Hectares of land excised to the Village
c. Where the boundaries of the beacons start and stop
d. The page the description of the Village excised is.


CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
A Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) is a Land Document issued by the State Government to officially lease any land under the state to you (the applicant), for a certain period of years (99 years in Nigeria). As already mentioned before, all lands belong to the Government.

A Certificate of Occupancy however is the officially recognized Land Document for demonstrating Right to a Land. What happens after 99years is to apply for surrender and renewal (you can chat me for more about this).


DEED OF ASSIGNMENT
It amazes me when I see people buy land without any executed Deed of Assignment forgetting that this is the only Land Document that shows you are the now the new owner of that land. When issues arises from such land transaction the victim will be the screaming that he or she had been duped by the vendor yet he/sbe can’t provide a Deed of Assignment to that transaction which means no claim legally.


A Deed of Assignment is one of the most important documents YOU MUST HAVE when you conclude a Land Transaction. A Deed of Assignment is an Agreement between the Seller (Assignor) of a Land or Property and a Buyer of that Land or property (Assignee) showing evidence that the Seller has transferred all his/her rights, title, interest and ownership on that land to that the assignee that has just bought the land.

The Deed of Assignment contains very pertinent information for a real estate transaction. For one, it spells out the date when the ownership of the property transfers from one owner to the other. The deed also gives a specific description of the property that is included in the transfer of ownership. After the conclusion of the sales transaction and deed of assignment executed. The buyer is expected to perfect the deed by seeking what is known as Governor's Consent.

The Governor been the custodian of the land in the state must consent to the transfer of interest most importantly if a C of O had been issued on the land to the previous owner. After the conclusion of the consent processing having paid all statutory dues to the government, copies of the deed submitted shall be endorsed by the Governor or the State Attorney General or a Commissioner appointed by the State Governor to sign on his behalf. Thereafter, it shall be forwarded to the land registry for registration and a copy kept at the lands record.

According to Section 22 of the LAND USE ACT 1978 as amended, this states thus:
“It shall not be lawful for the holder of a statutory right of occupancy granted by the Governor to alienate his right of occupancy or any part thereof by assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise howsoever without the consent of the Governor first had and obtained”


Therefore, it is very important for a purchaser of land to perfect his or her document by obtaining Governors consent so as to have a complete rest of mind. An advantage of having a Governor’s consent is that you can transfer your land to another person without going to the Omoniles or Family Baale to sign your deed and Form 1c which are compulsory requirements needed before you can process Governors consent. So when you are buying a land or property that has deed of assignment as the title, get the registration details of the deed to conduct search at the state land registry to confirm its genuity as an unregistered deed is not valid, be wary of it.

PURCHASE RECEIPT
This land document is the least of all and is just for the seller to acknowledge that he/she has received the due money he/she wants to sell the land. The mistake most people make is to think that a receipt is enough valid document to lay claim to ownership of a land, this could disastrous in the case of an unwanted situation. I hereby implore everyone to take the bull by the horn and do the needful immediately as any further delay could amount to eternal regret.

The nature of land disputes in Nigeria makes it extremely important that you have all relevant documents regarding ownership of a land or property. These titled documents are recognized by various government statues and laws on land and landed properties. Having all the documents required for a land purchase will help make your ownership legitimate after proper verification from the appropriate government agencies in charge of all land and land related issues in Nigeria.

For further inquiries with a view to engaging our service(s) please call 08032296562 or send an e-mail to us at a2realmartoptions@gmail.com.

We provide the following services:

*Processing of Governor's consent to assignment
*Tittle document search
*Processing of Building Development Approval
*Land Information
*Land Surveying
* Valuation of Land, Building, Plants & Machinery for
various purposes.
*Processing of Certificate of Occupancy
Other land/property related consultancy services

*We also help to sell and purchase of land and building at any location of choice by the clent.

For further discussion with a view to engaging our service, pease contact us at +2348032296562, +2348117949689.

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A2 REALMART OPTIONS
Block B Suite 188 Sura Shopping Complex
Simpson Street, Lagos Island.