Good morning everyone. I'll be enlightening you on a very crucial aspect of real estate in Nigeria. It is important that anyone who intends on buying a property or knows someone who wants to take that big step is well informed on this area as well.

Gazette or C of O or Governor’s consent, which do you think is the best evidence of title?

Let's get right into it

GOVERNOR’S CONSENT


Consent as it implies simply means approval. As explained in our previous episode, by virtue of section 1 of the Land Use Act 1978, all land vests in the Governor of a state. Consequentially, pursuant to section 6 of the same Act, what an individual can hold in a land is a mere right of occupancy which lasts for 99 years from the date of collection of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O).

In the same vein, to be able to transfer the said right of occupancy to another whether by sale or mortgage, it is vital to obtain what we call Governor’s consent. This prerequisite can be found in sections 22 and 26 of the Land Use Act 1978. I will quickly insert the provisions from these two sections below.

Section 22

“It shall not be lawful for the holder of a statutory right of occupancy granted by the Governor to alienate his right of occupancy or any part thereof by assignment, mortgage, and transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise howsoever without the consent of the Governor first had and obtained”

Section 26

‘Any transaction or any instrument which purports to confer on or vest in any person any interest or right over land other than in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be null and void.’

Now, here is where I will hit the nail on the head. Having seen the gravity of the importance of obtaining Governor’s consent from the collective reading of the two sections, one can now imagine the extent of security of title of a property that the owner has obtained Governor’s consent for. It not only denotes that a such person(s) can go ahead and transfer the property without issues but that you as the buyer are safe to buy as it will be deemed that there are no encumbrance on that title, no other person is dragging that same title.

Simply put, when you want to buy a property and you’re given a flyer that contains the details of the property. Take note of the part where the word ‘Title’ is written and what is beside that word. If you see Governor’s consent, it means that the title is well secured and it is safe to buy the property. Although I must mention that it is very important to still employ the services of a realtor who will go further to dig deep into the title and ensure that it indeed has the Governor’s consent.

CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY (C OF O)


Land is vested in the Governor of a state, as such, what an individual can hold in a land is a right of occupancy as opposed to true ownership. It’s like saying that the Governor is a ‘lessor’ and the buyer a ‘lessee’. This is because the Governor is ‘leasing’ it out to the buyer for a period 99 years which is detailed in a document called Certificate of Occupancy and at the expiration of that stipulated period, he can take it back.

Now, the tricky part here which many people are not aware of is that this 99 years applies cumulatively to not just the original buyer but subsequent buyers too. Take this illustration for instance, Mrs Florence inherited a piece of land from her late father in 1948. She decides to sell it to Mrs Beatrice in 1980. Mrs Beatrice obtained a C of O on the land in the same year 1980. Mrs Beatrice then decides to sell the land to Mr Augustine in 2008. Mr Augustine then sold it to Mrs Vivian in 2018.

Now, it is important to mention that the 99 years started counting from 1980 the year the C of O was granted to Mrs Beatrice by the Governor not in 1948 when Mrs Florence inherited the land.

Having said that, It can be deduced from the scenario that:

Mrs Beatrice used 28 years on the land (1980 – 2008)

Mr Augustine used 10 years on the land (2008 – 2018)

The total of which is 38 years. Now minus 38 years from 99 years. What is left is 61 years for Mrs Vivian and subsequent buyers to ‘occupy’ the land before Mr Governor collects it back.

In a nutshell, attention should be also be paid to the number of years already exhausted on a land that has certificate of occupancy as its title before jumping on it. This is because C of O can be issued only once with respect to a particular land

GAZETTE



A gazette is an official publication where all special government details and important decisions cutting across several industries are spelt out, detailed and recorded. For instance, when a legal practitioner is disbarred, it is published in the gazette likewise public appointments. We have the federal gazette as well as those of various states.

With respect to land, prior to the advent of the Land Use Act 1978, if you recall our understanding of excision in the previous episode, the portion of the land excised to a member or members of a community by the government is usually written in the gazette likewise the portion the government is holding on to. And as we know, gazette is a very powerful instrument that shows the importance of its content.

However, I must emphasize on this, despite the obvious benefit of gazette, it is very important that when you want to buy a land and you hear that the land is gazetted, avoid hasting to buy that land. Rather, take a step back and ensure that the portion, again the portion you’re buying has been excised by the government to the seller. You need an expert to survey the gazetted area, map out the coordinates and tell you exactly whether your property falls inside the gazette or not. This is because often times, people purchase lands that are outside the gazetted excision coordinates unknowingly and the effect of this is that you will end up buying a land committed to the government and which it can take from you at any time.

CONCLUSION

In the light of the foregoing, in my view Governor’s consent is the best title of the three. This is because if Governor’s consent has been obtained on a land, it is deemed that the land has little to no hidden encumbrances on it compared to its counterparts. In other words, you’re better protected from risks such as dragging title in court and other consequences arising from the provision of the law. This is because it is implied that the ‘Governor’ who is a legitimate trustee of all lands in a state must have done his ‘investigation’ so to say before allowing such land to be transferred, and as such the land is free to be held by the buyer. The problem with lands that already have C of O is the stipulated period of 99years. Be careful and ensure that the 99years has not been almost exhausted by previous owners of the land otherwise you might be left with few years to ‘occupy’ such land.

Nevertheless, my advice is that for anyone that wants to buy property in Nigeria, regardless of which of these three is advertised as the title of the property, do your investigation. Engage the services of trusted professionals to help you ascertain the genuineness of the said title and if there is any encumbrance on the land . This is because buying land can be a blessing but can also be a curse

Abimbola Ogundimu (esq)

Lasgidi Realtors Ltd