Perfection of Title

The sequence matters and the costs are substantial, which is why so many Nigerian buyers stop after the deed.

Application for consent is made to the state land bureau, with the deed, the seller's title documents, the survey plan, evidence of payment and the prescribed forms. The state assesses the property and issues a demand for the applicable charges, which commonly include a consent fee, capital gains tax on the seller's gain, stamp duty and registration fees, each calculated as a percentage of assessed value. Percentages and heads of charge vary by state.

Once paid, consent is endorsed on the deed. The deed is then stamped and lodged for registration, and the registry issues the registered particulars.

Budgeting for this at the point of purchase is the practical advice. A buyer who spent every naira on the purchase price and left nothing for perfection is exactly the buyer who never completes it, and who discovers years later that they cannot sell, cannot mortgage and cannot defend the property properly.

Who pays what should also be agreed in the sale agreement, since capital gains tax is the seller's liability while consent, stamping and registration are usually the buyer's.

The consequences of an unperfected title are concrete rather than theoretical.

You cannot use the property as security, because no bank will lend against a deed that was never consented or registered.

You will struggle to sell, because a careful buyer's lawyer will insist on perfection first, and the cost then falls on you at the worst moment.

You are exposed to a competing purchaser. Where the seller sells the same land twice, the buyer who registered first is in a far stronger position, and the earlier buyer holding an unregistered deed has a much harder case.

And evidentially you are weaker. A registrable instrument that was not registered may not be admissible to prove title, which is precisely the moment a buyer needs it.

The process is slow in most states, and delays at land bureaux are a genuine frustration. That is an argument for starting it promptly rather than for skipping it.

Where the land is held under a customary right of occupancy or family title with no registered instrument, perfection looks different, and the first step is establishing what can be registered at all. That is a question for a lawyer before purchase, not after.

Three stages, and buyers frequently believe they are at the third when they are at the first.

A signed deed means the parties executed the document. The buyer has a contract and an equitable interest. Nothing official records the change, and the seller remains the person on the register.

A consented deed means the Governor has approved the alienation, which is what makes the transfer valid under the Land Use Act. The charges have been assessed and paid, and the consent is endorsed on the deed.

A registered title means the stamped and consented deed has been lodged and registered at the lands registry. The buyer is now on the record, the instrument is admissible to prove title, and third parties are on notice.

A buyer who stops at the first stage has paid the purchase price for something considerably less than they think they bought.

Cost is the real obstacle. Perfection charges assessed as percentages of value are substantial, and for a modest property they represent a meaningful addition to the purchase price.

Time is the second. Consent applications move slowly in many states, and following them up requires persistence.

Perfection also cannot cure a defective root of title. Registering a deed from somebody who had nothing to transfer does not create ownership, which is why the searches come first.

And not every holding is registrable in the same way. Customary and unregistered family titles need work before there is anything to perfect, and that assessment belongs before the purchase.