How to Verify a Property Title and Developer in Nigeria Before You Buy

Before you pay a naira for property in Nigeria, you need to verify two things: that the seller holds a valid title, and that the land is not under government acquisition. Skip either check and you can lose the money and the land. In 2021, more than 2,000 buildings in Abuja were demolished because they sat on land without valid title. The people who lost those homes had often paid in full.

For diaspora buyers sending money from London, Houston, or Toronto, the risk is higher because you are trusting photos and a relative's word. The good news is that title verification in Nigeria follows a fixed set of checks rooted in one law, and you can instruct a lawyer to run all of them before you release funds.

Start with what "ownership" even means in Nigeria

The Land Use Act of 1978 is the foundation. Section 1 vests all land in each state in the Governor, who holds it in trust for the people. That means you never get absolute freehold the way you might imagine. What you get is a right of occupancy, usually for a 99-year term. The document that proves a statutory right of occupancy granted by the Governor is the Certificate of Occupancy, the C of O, issued under the Act.

This single fact reframes every purchase. You are buying a right of occupancy, and the question is whether the chain of that right is clean and whether the Governor's office recognizes it.

The document that makes or breaks the deal: Governor's Consent

Here is the rule that catches the most diaspora buyers. Under Section 22 of the Land Use Act, the holder of a statutory right of occupancy cannot transfer it by sale, assignment, mortgage, or lease without the Governor's consent. A transfer done without that consent is, on the face of the Act, not valid.

So if a seller hands you a C of O in their grandfather's name and a signed sales agreement, you do not yet own anything enforceable. You need the transfer to you to be perfected through Governor's Consent, which is processed at the state land bureau and typically costs in the range of 3 to 5 percent of the property value in consent fees, stamp duty, and registration. A C of O proves the original grant. Governor's Consent proves that the transfer to the current seller, and then to you, is legitimate. You need to see both threads.

The verification checklist that actually protects you

A proper title search is the core of it, and it happens at the Land Registry of the relevant state. In Lagos this is the Lagos State Land Registry; in Abuja it is the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS). A formal search confirms whether the title document is genuine, who the registered owner is, and whether there is any encumbrance, court injunction, or government acquisition recorded against the land. A Lagos search costs roughly 15,000 naira; Abuja is similar or slightly higher. It is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

Run these checks before money moves:

1. Land Registry search. Confirm the title is registered, the owner's name matches the seller, and there are no liens, disputes, or acquisition notices.

2. Survey plan check. Take the survey plan to the office of the Surveyor-General to confirm the coordinates are not inside a government-acquired or committed area. In Lagos, land under acquisition without excision is the classic trap.

3. Excision and gazette (for family or community land). If the land is sold by a family or community rather than under a C of O, confirm it has been excised from government acquisition and that the excision is published in the state gazette. No gazette, no security.

4. Seller identity. Match the seller's name on the title against a government ID. For family land, confirm the people signing are the recognized heads and principal members, because a sale by some but not all accredited family members can be voided.

5. Physical inspection. Have someone you trust, ideally your lawyer, walk the land to check for occupants, disputes, or a different building than the one in the photos.

Why diaspora buyers get targeted

The "omo onile" problem, where self-described land-owning families demand repeated payments, and outright double-selling of the same plot to several buyers, both thrive on absent owners. The defense is documentary, not personal. A lawyer running a registry search and a survey check at the Surveyor-General's office will catch a plot that has been sold twice or sits under acquisition, regardless of how convincing the seller sounds on a video call.

The same logic applies to off-plan estates. A developer selling units in a new Lekki or Abuja estate may have a marketing brochure and no perfected title to the underlying land. Confirm the estate's global C of O or its excision and gazette before you buy into the scheme, and check the developer's delivery record on past estates. You can review a Nigerian developer's track record and completed projects on Bektu (https://bektu.com) before committing to an off-plan purchase.

The clean answer

Nigerian land is held under the Land Use Act of 1978 as a right of occupancy, not freehold. A genuine purchase needs a verified C of O or registered title, a Land Registry search showing no encumbrance or acquisition, a survey check at the Surveyor-General's office, and, critically, Governor's Consent to perfect the transfer to you under Section 22. For family land, add excision and a gazette. Pay for the lawyer and the searches first. They cost a few hundred dollars. The land costs far more.

For more on verifying property and developers in emerging markets, see our guides on Sefcon Court and the Abuja investor market and spotting land-title fraud in Bali.