How to Verify a Property Developer in Nigeria Before Buying Off-Plan

Before you pay a deposit on an off-plan property in Lagos, ask the developer for one number: its LASRERA registration ID. If the company cannot produce one, it is operating illegally and you should walk away. That single check filters out a large share of the fraudulent and unlicensed operators that diaspora and foreign buyers lose money to every year.

Verifying a Nigerian developer is not complicated, but it does require running searches that the seller will never volunteer. Here is the full diligence sequence, grounded in the actual law.

Start with the regulator: LASRERA

The Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (LASRERA) was created to curb fraudulent practice in the market. Under the Lagos State Real Estate Regulatory Authority Law, every developer, agent, and property manager operating in Lagos must register with the authority and carry a LASRERA ID. Ask for it, then confirm it against the authority's records. An unregistered developer is not just a red flag, it is a company breaking the registration law, which tells you how it treats every other rule.

For projects outside Lagos, check the equivalent state body and the federal registration of estate surveyors and valuers, and confirm the company is incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). A developer that cannot show a CAC certificate matching the name on its contracts is a shell.

Verify the land title, not just the brochure

Nigerian land law runs on the Land Use Act 1978, which vests all land in each state in the governor, held in trust for the people. Two documents prove a developer actually controls the land it is selling.

The Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) is granted by the governor under the Land Use Act and evidences a right of occupancy over the land. The Governor's Consent is the separate, mandatory approval required to validate any subsequent transfer of that land. Under Sections 21 and 22 of the Land Use Act 1978, no transaction transferring a right of occupancy is legally valid without the governor's consent. A developer selling units on land it acquired without obtaining Governor's Consent is passing a defective title down to you.

Fake C of Os are widespread, produced with high-quality printers and forged government stamps. Do not accept a photocopy. Conduct a title search at the Lagos State Land Registry (or the relevant state registry) on the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the root of title. The search confirms the C of O number is genuine, the land is not under government acquisition, and there are no encumbrances, liens, or competing claims. Lagos and several other states now offer online C of O verification, which lets you cross-check the number before you ever meet the developer.

Run the professional and technical searches

Two more checks separate a real builder from a marketing operation.

The professional search confirms the people designing and building the project are licensed. The architect should be registered with the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and the engineers with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). Unlicensed design and engineering is both illegal and a structural risk in a market where building collapses are not rare.

The technical search confirms the project itself is approved. Ask for the building permit and planning approval from the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA) or the relevant state planning body. A development without an approved permit can be sealed or demolished regardless of what you paid.

The check the documents cannot give you: delivery history

Clean title and full permits still do not tell you whether the developer will actually finish. Nigeria's off-plan market is full of companies that sold an entire estate, collected deposits, and delivered late, partially, or never. The most predictive question is simple: has this developer completed and handed over what it sold before, as the same legal entity?

That is exactly the record Bektu (https://bektu.com) compiles, letting you check a Nigerian developer's delivery history before you commit capital to a promise on a rendering. Cross-reference the projects a developer claims with buyers who took handover in earlier phases, and confirm the delivering company is the same CAC entity, not a similarly named successor.

Put it in the contract

When you do proceed, your deposit and milestone payments should be tied to verified construction stages, and the contract should name the C of O and survey details of the specific plot. Engage an independent Nigerian property lawyer to conduct the registry search and review the deed. The seller's lawyer works for the seller.

Land documentation and registry procedures vary by state and change over time, so confirm the current process and your specific title position with a licensed Nigerian property lawyer before you transfer funds.

For a worked example of evaluating a specific Abuja development, see our investor guide to Sefcon Court, and you can review individual company records such as Zylus Homes and Properties and Crestfield Real Estate Management directly.