How to verify land title in Nigeria, step by step

Step 1: Collect the documents

Ask the seller for a copy of the title document, the survey plan and any previous Deeds of Assignment. Note the file number on the C of O or Right of Occupancy, the Gazette number on an excision, and the surveyor’s name and plan number on the survey.

A seller who will not release copies before payment is telling you something. Genuine sellers expect a search.

Step 2: Search the lands registry

Every state keeps a register of titles. In Lagos the search is done at the Lands Registry in Alausa, Ikeja. In the FCT it is done through Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) in Garki, with a legal search confirmed against the physical file. Ogun uses the Bureau of Lands and Survey in Abeokuta, Oyo the Ministry of Lands in Ibadan, and Rivers the Ministry of Lands and Survey in Port Harcourt.

The search confirms whether the title exists, whose name it is in, whether consent was granted for previous transfers, and whether there is a mortgage, caveat or revocation recorded against it. Fees and turnaround times change, so confirm them with the registry or your lawyer at the time.

Step 3: Get a charting report

A charting report from the Office of the Surveyor General places the survey plan on the state master plan. It shows whether the plot lies on land under government acquisition, on a road or drainage setback, on a pipeline or power line right of way, or overlaps another registered plot.

Many disputed sales along the Lekki Epe corridor and the Airport Road in Abuja would have been avoided by this single report.

Step 4: Check the Gazette for excised land

If the seller relies on an Excision or Gazette, obtain the Gazette itself and confirm the number, the village and the area excised. Then confirm with the excision survey that the specific plot sits inside that area.

Step 5: Inspect the land with the survey plan

Walk the land with a surveyor and the plan. Confirm the beacons match the coordinates and that the plot the seller points to is the plot on the paper. Ask neighbours who sold them their land and whether the same family or agent is involved.

Step 6: Confirm the seller

Match the name on the title to the seller’s identification. For a company, obtain a CAC search and a board resolution authorising the sale. For family land, obtain evidence that the person signing is the family head or has the family’s written authority, and that the principal members consent.

Step 7: Pay against a signed deed

Pay through a bank transfer to an account in the seller’s name, at the same time as the Deed of Assignment is signed and witnessed. Then stamp and register the deed and, where the land has a C of O, apply for Governor’s Consent. Where it has no government title, apply for a C of O.