NIGERIAN REAL ESTATE; WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AS A REALTOR

As a Realtors/Property Consultant, IT is crucial that we conduct ourselves in a most professional
manner. Our clients are entrusting us with their precious money if they
choose to engage our services. Our goal is NOT to focus our attention
on the commission we will receive from the property they buy. Rather,
it is to understand their needs and provide them with the best
information so that they can make an informed/educated decision. We
should always put their interest FIRST.


LAND CLASSIFICATION
Land can be classified as either free or acquired. A parcel of land is
considered free if the government has not indicated any interest
whatsoever in that land. Such land is safe to buy because the title on
the land can be perfected without issues. In most cases, such land
will either have a Gazette, a Certificate of Occupancy or a Governor’s
consent. Land that falls within areas that are designated as ‘urban
areas' are under government acquisition until deemed committed or
free.

There are two types of acquisition:
1. COMMITTED ACQUISITION
A parcel of land is said to be under committed acquisition when the
government has indicated an intention to use that land for a specific
purpose such as provision of amenities. Such land belongs to the
government and can never be available for use by individuals. If you
purchase land that is under committed acquisition, it will be
impossible for you to perfect your land title and you will only be
occupying the land until the government comes to kick you out.

2. GLOBAL (OR GENERAL) ACQUISITION
Lands that are under “general acquisition” or “global acquisition” can
later be confirmed ‘free’ or “committed” as the case may be. A land
under general acquisition can become free either Excision or
Ratification (Regularization).

‘Excision’ 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 becomes excised, it is then considered
free and becomes gazetted. 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.

“Ratification” (or “Regularization”) is where the land owner pays for
the land to be approved or sanctioned by the government. The only
condition is that the land in question must not fall within a
committed area, and that the purpose for which the land was bought
does not disrupt the original plan of the State.

DEED OF ASSIGNMENTS
Most people have the title documents to their cars intact and in safe
places but fail to ask for the Deed of Assignment to their properties
which is several times more valuable than cars

A Deed of Assignment is one of the transactional document drawn up by
a Real Estate Attorney between the current title holder for a
particular property (the Assignor) and the new buyer. In Real Estate
transactions, a Deed of Assignment is a legal document that transfers
the interest of the owner to the person to whom it is assigned (the
Assignee). When ownership is transferred, the Deed of Assignment shows
the new legal owner of the property.

The Deed of Assignment contains very pertinent information for a Real
Estate transaction. It spells out the date when the ownership of the
property transfers from one owner to the other. It also gives a
specific description of the property that is included in the transfer
of ownership, as well as the traditional history.

It is very compulsory and mandatory for a Deed of Assignment document
to be recorded at the appropriate Land Registry to show legal evidence
as to the exchange of ownership in any land/landed property
transaction in order to make the general public and government aware
of such exchange or transaction. Any recorded Deed of Assignment at
the appropriate land registry will be authenticated in form of either
a Governor’s Consent or Registered Conveyance after it has been
stamped at the Stamp Duties office.

The following documents are usually involved when a Land purchase is made.

(1) The Deed of Assignment (2) The Contract of Sale (3) The Purchase Receipt
(4) The Survey Plan (5) Any other Title Document that may apply.

Each of these documents can come at separate times in the transaction
process. The seller signs all documents when the transaction is
complete and hands over the documents to the buyer.

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. The
people that handle survey issues are Surveyors and they are regulated
by the office of the Surveyor General. It 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 numbers (6) 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
An Excision means basically taking a part from a whole and that part
that has been excised will be recorded and documented in the official
government Gazette of that State. In other words, not having an
excision means the land could be seized by the Government anytime
without compensation, even if it was bought “legitimately” from the
‘Baale’ or the original dwellers on the land.

GAZETTE
A Gazette is an Official record book where all special government
details pertaining to land 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. A
community owning a gazette can only sell land to an individual within
those areas that have been excised to them. Also the community or
family head of that land has the right to sign your documents if you
purchase land within those excised acres or hectares. If the
government, for any reason, decides to revoke or acquire your land,
you will be entitled to compensation as long as it is within the
Excised land 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 and confirm whether it falls within the Gazette, and
spell out which particular location it can be found.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY
A Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) issued by the Lagos State
Government officially leased Lagos land to you, the applicant, for 99
yrs. All land belong to the Government. The first person on a virgin
land that has never been occupied and not under acquisition by the
Government is entitled to get a Certificate of Occupancy on that land.

GOVERNOR’S CONSENT
If a person with the C of O decides to sell his land to another
person, the buyer must obtain the Consent of the Governor before that
transaction can be deemed legal in the eyes of the Government. If the
new buyer now decides to sell the land again to a third owner, that
third owner must also obtain a new Consent of the Governor before that
transaction can be deemed legal in the eyes of the Government. This
process continues every time the property exchange hands. In other
words, the first person on a land is the only person or group of
persons entitled to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy. Every
subsequent buyer of that land must get a Governor’s consent. There
can only be one (1) Owner of the Certificate of Occupancy on that Land
and it will not be replicated for another person once the land has
been sold or transferred to another person.

The powers of the Governor to Consent to such transactions can be
found in Section 22. Of the *LAND USE ACT 1978* as amended. The
Governor of a State can delegate the power of Consent to any member of
his cabinet.

It is very important for a purchaser of land to perfect his or her
document by obtaining a Governors Consent so as to have 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 community
touts (’Omo-oniles’) or ‘Family Baale’ to sign your Deed and Form 1c,
which are compulsory requirements needed before you can process
Governor’s Consent. Do you now see why Certificate of Occupancy is not
the ultimate?