WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE
BUYING LAND IN NIGERIA
Written
by Real Estate Law Department at Resolution Law Firm, Lagos, Nigeria
Buying
land in Nigeria is one of the common property law transactions, which is
administered by various legislations depending on the jurisdiction in Nigeria.
Conveyancing, as it is known, is the process by which ownership of land is
transferred between a seller and a buyer. This can include both residential and
commercial land transactions.
A
prospective purchaser of any property (or normally his solicitor) would have to
main concerns. First, he must be sure that the vendor of the property is really
entitled to sell it. Thus the buyer must first insist that the vendor proves
that his title to the land is good and that he can pass to the purchaser the
land/ property which he is offering to sell. Secondly, the purchaser will want
to know whether any third parties have rights to the land which might interfere
with his intended use of it. These third-party rights might include covenants
restricting usage, a right of way, tree preservation order, or even mortgages.
Concerns about these matters will lead the purchaser or his representatives, to
make extensive enquiries
before
the purchase of the property is finally concluded.
There
are however many factors one needs to consider before buying a land in Nigeria
these ranges from
i. The size of the land,
ii. The soil type,
iii. The location of the land which is very
important,
iv. The purpose which the land will be used
for,
v. Accessibility of such land i.e proximity
to access road,
vi. The price of the land,
vii. The legal papers available in respect
of the land,
viii. The environment, as well as the
security conditions of the area, should be well evaluated before engaging in
such a transaction.
In
taking cognizance to the aforementioned factors, it is advisable to involve an
expert who has the background, requisite knowledge and skills in this area of a
property acquisition. Thus it is very important to have a lawyer who is
grounded in property law practice before embarking on a land purchase. This is
so because a lawyer would ensure you don’t run into legal troubles with land
documents after purchase, and also by virtue of our enabling laws it is only a
legal practitioner that are allowed to prepare legal documents (instruments)
involved in these conveyance process which involves the transfer of interest
from one person to another.
Furthermore,
inquiries which would be relevant for the purchaser solicitor to seek before
buying a land on behalf of the purchaser include;
i. Boundaries of the property
ii. Disputes over the property
iii. Guarantees in respect of the property
iv. Services supplied on the property
v. Planning schemes of the property
vi. Insurance provisions and policies
vii. Reversionary title or interest
When all these have been satisfied, the
purchaser solicitor can now proceed with the purchase of the property
DOCUMENTS
REQUIRED FOR LAND PURCHASE IN NIGERIA.
During
the process of purchasing a land, there a number of crucial documents required
from the seller in order to effectively validate the transaction. These
documents are necessary as they are evident of title which the buyer possesses
in relation to the land. It is important to note that there are different types
of land documents in Nigeria. These documents include:
i.
Approved survey plan: This is an important title document that helps to reveal
the true ownership status in any land and landed properties’ transactions. It
also helps to reveal if such land is not under any government acquired or
committed lands/area.
ii.
Approved layout
iii.
Deed of assignment: This is a very important document that must be demanded and
given to a purchaser after the conclusion of any land/property transaction
between such purchaser/buyer and the owner/seller of the land/landed property
in question. Section 2(v) of the Conveyancing Act 1881 provides the definition
of conveyance as follows: “A conveyance includes any assignment, appointment,
lease, settlement and other assurances and covenants to surrender made by deed
of sale, mortgage, demise or settlement of any property or on any other dealing
with or for any property; and convey, unless a contrary intention appears, has
a meaning corresponding with that of conveyance”.
iv.
Purchase receipt: this is the evidence of due payment of the purchase of the
land and it is usually required when registering the land.
v.
Certificate of Occupancy: this is one of the most important land title
documents that is used to certify the legal ownership status of any land in
Nigeria irrespective of its usage. It is usually delivered to the owner of a
parcel of land by the government attesting to the owner’s interest to the land
where such interest is in accordance with the applicable laws. It is a legal
document indicating that a person who has acquired an interest in land has been
granted a statutory right of occupancy by the governor
vi.
Power of attorney: this is usually required where a person is acting for
another person, individuals or companies as his agent. It is a document that
authorizes such person to act on their behalf.
These
documents are essential as they are necessary to process a search in the land
registry, the registration of title, registration of Deeds, as well as
registration of Certificate of Occupancy. It is equally important to note the
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF REGISTRATION OF LAND IN NIGERIA which is essentially
three:
Non-registration
may (i) render certain documents void, (ii) render them inadmissible as
evidence in judicial proceedings, and (iii) make them lose priority against
registered ones affecting the same land.
It
must, of course, be noted that registration does not by itself cure the
instrument( legal document) registered of any defect, nor does it confers upon
it any effect or validity which the instrument, apart from the registration,
would not otherwise have had.
PROOF OF LAND
OWNERSHIP IN NIGERIA
There
have always been disputes arising from land matters which often end up in
litigation; this is usually as a result of failure to obtain the right
documents for proper ownership of land and also the failure to complete the
process of acquiring a perfect title to the land. That is why in the bid to
achieving justice, the court will rule in favour of any party that can prove a
better title to a land or property. This was the position of the court in
ELEGUSHI v. OSENI (2005) 14 NWLR (PT 945) AT 348.
Thus
in law, there is every possibility that the owner of a piece of land or
property may not appear before the law as a person with a better title as it
was held in the case of Agboola v. United Bank for Africa Plc. & 2 Ors.
(2011) 4 CLRN 33. In the popular case of IDUNDUN v. OKUMAGBA (1976) 9-10 SC,
227 1 NMLR, the supreme court held that title or ownership to land can be
proved in any of the following five ways:
1. By traditional evidence.
2. By production of documents of title duly
authenticated and executed.
3. By acts of ownership extending over a
sufficient length of time numerous and positive enough as to warrant the
inference of true ownership.
4. By acts of long possession and
enjoyment, and
5.
Proof of possession of connected or adjacent land in circumstances rendering it
probable that the owner of such connected or adjacent land would, in addition,
be the owner of the land in dispute.
Thus
the most common ways listed above is the production of a document of grant or
title. This method entails providing any of the following document; Deed of
Assignment/ conveyance, a Deed of gift, a legal Mortgage, and a Certificate of
Occupancy. As such it is important that a person intending to buy a land must
make sure to instruct his lawyer to perfect the title of the land or property.
HOW
TO WRITE LAND AGREEMENT IN NIGERIA
It
is very instructive to note that it is only a legal practitioner that is
entitled to prepare instruments relating to land. Such instruments include Deed
of a lease, Assignment, Legal mortgage, etc. the name and address of the legal
practitioner must be stated on the instrument and it must bear a seal of such
legal practitioner, this is also known as Franking of such instruments. Why
this is so is that where an instrument relating to immovable property does not
contain the particulars of the legal practitioner who prepared it, it may not
be accepted for registration at the land registry.
In
conclusion, it is very essential and advisable to involve a lawyer when one
intends to buy a land or acquire a property as role and responsibility of a
lawyer in relation to this transaction including but not limited to the
following:
i. Investigation of the title sought to be
transferred from the appropriate registries
ii. Advising on the viability or otherwise
of the title of the property sought to be transferred.
iii. Preparation of formal contract that
encapsulates the agreement of the parties in respect of the property that is
being transferred. Excellent drafting skills are required for this to ensure that
the document reflects the full intention of the parties
iv. Approval of the contract by the
solicitor of the purchaser
v. Exchange of contract by the parties to
the contract
vi. Obtaining the consent of relevant
authorities for permission to transfer the legal interest in the property
vii. Preparing and ensuring the execution
of the deed or the instrument that transfers the legal interest in the
property.
viii. Payment of stamp duties, fees and
other taxes in respect of the property being transferred
ix. Registration of the instrument that
conveys the legal interest in the land
All
of the above must effectively be carried out by the legal practitioner for the
buyer of the property.
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