Title Verification 101 — C of O, Governor's Consent, and Avoiding Fraud
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
If this series has a single most important episode, it is this one. Every other topic we cover, financing, corridors, property management, legacy planning, assumes one foundational thing has already been done correctly: that the title to the land you purchased is genuine, verified, and legally transferable. Skip this step, or perform it carelessly, and no amount of good planning elsewhere will protect your investment.
Why title matters more in Lagos than almost anywhere you have lived
In many countries, land registries are centralised, digitised, and reasonably difficult to falsify. Lagos State has made real progress in digitising its land records in recent years, but the practical reality on the ground still involves a layered system where customary family land, government-acquired land, and privately titled land can sit adjacent to one another, sometimes with overlapping claims. Multiple sale of the same plot to different unsuspecting buyers remains a documented problem, one that Lagos State's own land use and enforcement authorities have publicly acknowledged and worked to address through registry reforms.
This is not meant to frighten you away from investing. It is meant to explain precisely why verification is not a bureaucratic formality but the single control that determines whether your investment is real.
The key documents you need to understand
A Certificate of Occupancy, commonly called a C of O, is the primary document confirming that the Lagos State Government has granted occupancy rights over a piece of land to an individual or entity for a defined period, typically ninety-nine years. Holding a C of O is significant, but it is not, by itself, proof that a particular seller is entitled to transfer that land to you. A C of O can be forged, can belong to a different plot than the one being shown to you, or can be genuine but held by someone other than the person claiming to sell.
Governor's Consent is a separate and essential step required under the Land Use Act whenever land already covered by a C of O is being resold or transferred. Many disputes involving diaspora buyers trace back to a transaction where consent was never properly obtained or registered, leaving the buyer with a document that looks official but carries no real legal protection.
A Deed of Assignment is the legal document transferring interest in the property from seller to buyer. It matters, but it is only as strong as the underlying title being assigned. A beautifully drafted deed assigning fraudulent or disputed title is still worthless.
The verification process, step by step
The first and non-negotiable step is a search at the Lagos State Land Registry, which confirms whether the property is registered, who the current legal owner is, and whether there are any encumbrances, such as an existing mortgage or litigation, attached to it. This search should be conducted by a licensed professional, either a legal practitioner or a registered estate surveyor, and the results should be provided to you directly, not summarised secondhand by the seller or their agent.
The second step is confirming the land is not subject to government acquisition. Lagos State has, over the decades, acquired significant tracts of land for infrastructure, drainage, and planning purposes, some of which are not always obvious from a site visit alone. Land within a government acquisition area generally cannot be legally developed or transferred, regardless of what documents a seller presents, and buyers who skip this check have in some well documented cases lost their entire investment when the land was later reclaimed or demolition orders were enforced.
The third step is a physical and professional site inspection, ideally conducted by someone independent of the seller, to confirm that the land being shown matches the land described in the documents, that boundaries are accurately pinned, and that there is no existing occupant or competing claimant on site.
Why "independent" is the operative word
The most consistent failure pattern I have observed among diaspora buyers is not a lack of documentation. It is documentation verified, or claimed to be verified, by someone connected to the seller, a family friend, a relative "in the business," or an agent whose commission depends on the sale closing. A verification process is only meaningful when the person conducting it has no financial stake in the outcome. This single principle, more than any other in this episode, is worth internalising completely.
Red flags worth naming directly
Certain patterns should prompt immediate caution: pressure to pay quickly before "the price goes up," reluctance to allow an independent search, documents that only exist as photographs sent over WhatsApp rather than originals available for inspection, prices significantly below the going rate for a comparable plot in the same area, and sellers who discourage direct contact with the Land Registry. None of these guarantee fraud on their own, but each one, according to patterns reported by Lagos-based estate professionals and covered in Nigerian property and legal commentary, appears repeatedly in disputed transactions.
What this costs, and why it is worth it
Proper verification, including registry search fees and professional charges for a lawyer or estate surveyor, typically adds a modest percentage to your total transaction cost. Buyers focused narrowly on the headline land price sometimes view this as an unnecessary expense. It is, in every meaningful sense, the actual price of the land. A cheaper plot with unverified title is not a bargain. It is an unpriced liability.
A reflection
I have sat across from people who lost the equivalent of years of overseas savings to land that, on paper, looked identical to a legitimate purchase. The difference in every case I have reviewed was never bad luck. It was a verification step skipped, usually under time pressure, usually because someone trusted was involved. Diligence is not the opposite of trust. It is what makes trust safe to extend.
Next episode, we walk through the full process of buying land in Lagos from abroad, step by step, building directly on the verification foundation we have laid here.
For more insightful and informative content, visit JermaineSanwoOlu.com.
This article is for general educational purposes and does not constitute personalised legal, tax, property, or financial advice. Investors should obtain independent professional advice appropriate to their circumstances.
Comments