Understanding Property Documentation in Lagos Property Transactions

"The seller has a Certificate of Occupancy." Few statements give property buyers in Nigeria more confidence than this. To many, it signals that the property is legitimate and the transaction is safe. If the seller also produces a survey plan, a Deed of Assignment, purchase receipts and other supporting documents, many buyers assume there is nothing left to worry about.

Unfortunately, that assumption has cost countless individuals and businesses millions of naira.

A property can have every document a buyer expects to see and still be subject to litigation, government acquisition, an undisclosed mortgage, competing ownership claims, or defects buried deep within its chain of title. By the time these issues come to light, the purchase money has often been paid, and the buyer is left with an expensive legal battle.

This is why property due diligence is not simply about collecting documents. It is about identifying the risks that remain after the documents have been examined.

At HIDD Advisory, we approach every property transaction from one fundamental question:

What risks still exist after the paperwork has been verified?

That question changes everything.

What documents actually prove

Different documents answer different questions. Problems arise when buyers expect one document to establish something it was never intended to prove.

Documents that establish title

• Certificate of Occupancy. A Certificate of Occupancy records the Governor's grant of a statutory right of occupancy, commonly for a term of 99 years under the Land Use Act. It remains the strongest single documentary instrument available in Lagos, but it is not a freehold and it does not confirm that the current holder acquired the interest validly.
• Certificate of Registered Title. Where land falls within a declared registration district, the register itself becomes the record of title, making this stronger evidence than a deed. In practice, however, it is sufficiently uncommon that most buyers never encounter one.
• Excision. An excision records the release of an area from government acquisition. It establishes that the land has been released, but it does not establish who within the owning family had authority to sell or whether the plot shown to the buyer is the same parcel covered by the excision.
• Gazette. A gazette is the official publication in which an excision is recorded. Sellers frequently refer to a gazette without producing the relevant entry, even though the published entry is the part that carries evidential value.

Documents that transfer an interest

• Deed of Assignment. A Deed of Assignment transfers the assignor's unexpired interest to the assignee. However, it is only as strong as the chain of title behind it, so a defect four owners back continues through every subsequent transfer.
• Deed of Sublease. A Deed of Sublease creates a derivative interest out of an existing head title and is common within private estates. The head title is often the most important document in the transaction, yet it is also the one buyers are least likely to see.
• Deed of Assent. A Deed of Assent vests a deceased owner's interest in a beneficiary following probate. Where a family disposes of land without it, the resulting gap in the chain cannot be repaired by later deeds.
• Letter of Allocation. A Letter of Allocation records an administrative allocation within a scheme. It is not an instrument of transfer, despite often being presented as though it were, particularly in newer developments.
• Irrevocable Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney grants authority to act on another person's behalf. Although it is widely marketed in Lagos as a route to ownership, it transfers no interest in land. Describing it as irrevocable does not change its legal effect.
• Contract of Sale. A Contract of Sale records the agreement between buyer and seller and creates contractual obligations between them. Legal title passes on completion by deed, meaning that a signed contract and payment leave the buyer with contractual remedies rather than ownership of the land.
• Purchase Receipt. A purchase receipt simply records that payment passed from one named party to another. It is evidence of payment and nothing more.

Perfection

• Governor's Consent. Section 22 of the Land Use Act requires the Governor's consent before a statutory right of occupancy is assigned, mortgaged, subleased or otherwise alienated. Although often treated as a formality to be completed later, it is frequently never perfected.

Documents that support a transaction

• Registered Survey Plan. A registered survey plan establishes where the land is located and defines its dimensions. Its real value emerges only after charting at the Office of the Surveyor-General, which establishes whether the parcel falls under acquisition or another government restriction. Until then, it is simply a drawing.
• Building Plan Approval. Building plan approval establishes that the development itself was authorised. Its absence may expose a buyer to enforcement action against the structure, regardless of whether the underlying land title is sound.
• Land Information Certificate. A Land Information Certificate reflects the state's recorded position on a parcel, including its acquisition status. It remains one of the more efficient verification tools available, despite being requested relatively infrequently.
• Land Use Charge notices, tenement receipts and utility bills. These documents corroborate occupation and assessment. They may help support a narrative of possession, but they carry no evidential weight on the question of title. A substantial collection of them often provides reassurance that they are incapable of providing.

The four questions every property file must answer

A careful buyer will identify many of the obvious issues from the documents alone. A Power of Attorney presented as though it transfers ownership, an unconsented Deed of Assignment, or a sublease with no supporting head title are all capable of being identified from the file itself.

The documents, however, reach a point beyond which they can provide no further answers. Four questions can never be resolved solely from the papers a seller hands across the table.

Is it genuine?

Authenticity cannot be established through visual inspection alone. Only a search at the Lands Bureau confirms that an instrument corresponds with the official register, and only that search will disclose a subsisting mortgage, a competing registered interest, or any other registered encumbrance affecting the property.

Is ownership continuous?

Ownership depends on an unbroken chain of title. That chain must be traced back to its root, with the capacity of every transferor examined and every inheritance, family sale and corporate transfer confirmed as having been properly effected. The strength of the latest document is determined by the strength of every document that came before it.

Is the land available?

Availability is a separate question from ownership. Charting at the Office of the Surveyor-General establishes whether the parcel falls under government acquisition, public commitment, a road setback, or another restriction that may affect its use or transfer.

Does the paper match reality?

No document can establish what exists on the ground. Boundary encroachments, beacon disputes, third-party occupation and the physical condition of the improvements are matters that can only be confirmed through inspection.

Taken together, these four questions form the substance of property due diligence because they address risks that documentary evidence alone cannot resolve.

A seller has no obligation to volunteer information that does not appear in the file, and an agent is usually working from exactly the same documents as the buyer. That is why verification extends beyond collecting paperwork to independently testing what the paperwork does, and does not, establish.

How HIDD verifies

At HIDD, we approach these four questions as a single verification exercise rather than as separate enquiries. Registry searches are conducted, survey plans are charted, the chain of title is traced to its root, and the property is physically inspected. The outcome is a clear assessment of risk, together with the conditions that would need to be satisfied before a transaction can proceed.

This article provides general information on documentary practice in Lagos State. It is intended for educational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice in relation to any specific transaction.