Buying land in Nigeria from abroad without flying home

The problem is not money, it is sight

Nigerians abroad send home tens of billions of dollars a year and a large share of it goes into land and building. The losses come from buying blind: a relative or agent is sent to inspect, a receipt is photographed, and the money is sent before anyone has seen a title document or the land itself.

Start with the document, not the location

Before you discuss price, ask which title document the seller holds and request a copy. A Certificate of Occupancy, Governor’s Consent or a Gazetted excision can be checked from anywhere through a lawyer. A family receipt or an allocation letter cannot be checked in the same way and should be treated as unproven.

On Plotmarket the title document is stated on every listing and can be filtered, so you can exclude the weakest documents before you spend time on a listing.

Inspect remotely, then independently

Ask for 360 degree photos or a video walkthrough with the survey plan visible, and for a live video call from the land showing the beacons and the access road. Then commission an independent surveyor, not one introduced by the seller, to visit the land with the plan and confirm the beacons and the surroundings.

Use a lawyer who is not the seller’s lawyer

Engage a Nigerian property lawyer directly, agree the fee in writing, and have them run the registry search and charting report described in our verification guide. Ask them to confirm the seller’s identity against the title and to prepare the Deed of Assignment.

Pay in a way you can trace

Send money to the seller’s own bank account, never to an agent’s personal account, and pay against the signed deed. Where possible, route payment through your lawyer’s client account so it is released only when the documents are in hand. Keep every receipt and the transfer references.

Frauds to recognise

These patterns recur in Nairaland threads and EFCC prosecutions.

• The same plot sold to several buyers, each with a family receipt.
• A genuine C of O photographed from a stranger’s file and presented as the seller’s own.
• An estate selling plots on land still under government acquisition, with a promise that excision is “in process”.
• A relative or agent who inspects a different plot from the one being sold.
• Pressure to pay a deposit within hours to “hold” the land.

After you buy

Register the Deed of Assignment, apply for Governor’s Consent or a C of O, fence the land and put a signboard with your lawyer’s contact on it. Visit or have it inspected at least once a year. Unfenced land bought from abroad is the easiest to resell to someone else.