Here, we are going to discuss land titles one after the other.

Observations, contributions, comments and questions are allowed. Thanks.

SURVEY PLAN

A Survey plan is a document that measures the boundary of a parcel of land to give an accurate measurement and description of that land. Every land must be surveyed by a certified surveyor and a survey plan submitted to the government for approval.

The people that handle survey issues are Surveyors and they are regulated by the office of the Surveyor General of the state where the land is located. A survey plan must contain the following information:

1. The name of the owner of the land surveyed

2. The Address or description of the land surveyed

3. The size of the land surveyed

4. The drawn out portion of the land survey and mapped out on the survey plan document

5. The beacon (unique) numbers

6. The name and signature of the surveyor who drew up the survey plan and the date it was drawn up

7. A stamp showing the land is either free from Government acquisition or not.

 EXCISION

The Land Use Act of March, 1978 vested all lands within the jurisdiction of a state in the custody of the governor of that state. Prior to this time, traditional families had absolute control over large portion of lands which was dedicated for personal use or leased out mainly for agricultural purposes.
The government still recognizes that indigenes of each community has 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)

Excision therefore is a process whereby the government releases a portion of an expanse of land that is not committed. If a parcel of land that was formerly under acquisition become excised, it is then considered free and eventually becomes gazette (recorded and documented in government’s official book).

DEED OF ASSIGNMENT

A Deed of Assignment is a mutual agreement between the seller of a land or property and a buyer of that land or property showing evidence that the seller has transferred all his rights, his title, his interest and ownership of that land to that the buyer that has just bought the land or property. Such recorded Deed of Assignment come in the form of Registered Conveyance.

After the Deed of Assignment has been exchanged between both parties, it has to be recorded in the land registry to show legal proof that the land has exchanged hands and for the public to be aware of it.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY (C OF O)

A Certificate of Occupancy (C OF O) is a certificate issued by the state government officially leasing a piece of land in the state to the applicant for 99 years. In case of eventuality by the government, it means the landlord would be compensated to the tune or amount of the cost of the land as compensation.

Processing land title documents in Lagos, especially C of O takes more than 18 months to be approved and that is why C of O document on a land greatly appreciates the value and increases the price of the land.

This doesn’t mean that the state government won’t compensate you if you have a land that doesn’t have the C of O title, should they find a purpose for the land in the future. Once a land is excised, you are cover. And even when the excision has not been approved, you will be compensated as long as it has been filed, sent in and paid for.