Documents You Must Know When Investing In Real Estate

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 in Lagos as it relates to survey issues

in Lagos. 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 surveyed 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

Land Use Decree on the 28th of March, 1978 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 was 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 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.

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

compensating you even if you bought it “Legitimately” from the Traditional Ruler (Baale) or the

Original dwellers on the land.

GAZETTE

A Gazette 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. A community owning a gazette can only sell Matters an

individual within those lands that have been excised to them and the community or family head

of that land has the right to sign your documents for you if you purchase lands within those

excised acres or hectares of land.

If the government based on some reasons best known to them decides to revoke or acquire your

land, 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 to confirm whether it falls within the gazette and spell out which

particular location it can be found.

DEED OF ASSIGNMENT

A Deed of Assignment is an 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 Seller that has just bought land.

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 the public should be

aware of the transaction. Such recorded Deed of Assignment come in the form of either a

_*Governor’s Consent*_ or _*Registered Conveyance*_.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY

A Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) issued by the Lagos State Government officially leases Lagos

land to you, the applicant, for 99 yrs. As already indicated above, all lands belong to the

Government.

A C of O however is the officially recognized Document for demonstrating Right to a Land.

What happens after 99 years? That question is still subject of debate among experts. Most have

adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Others postulate that as the new owner of the land, you the

buyer, can renew the certificate of occupancy when it expires. That makes sense, but for now is

largely a case of “We shall.

GOVERNOR’S CONSENT

Governor's consent is the approval that must be given by a governor of a state or his delegate in

any transaction that has to do with the transfer of ownership or other interest over land or landed

property in order to make the transaction valid at law. This consent is obtained from the governor

of a state on a land transaction, without which will be deemed illegal in the eyes of the

government and the law. Governor’s consent in Lagos and every other state in Nigeria are

absolutely necessary where the holder of a Certificate of Occupancy over land or any other title

decides to sell or alienate the land to another person. Every subsequent transaction on the land

cannot be perfected until the governor’s consent is gotten.

PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS THAT REQUIRE GOVERNOR’s CONSENT

The property transactions that require a Governor’s Consent include the followings:

1. Assignment

2. Mortgage

3. Sublease

4. Lease

5. Gift

This very important process is statutorily provided for in Section 22 of the Land Use Act

1978 as amended, it provides 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”

In Lagos state, the Land Registry Directorate has the responsibility of keeping an up to date

record of all land transactions in the state. The Directorate stores registered documents relating

to land by virtue of the Land Instrument Registration Law of Lagos State 2015.