HOW TO BUY GENUINE FARMLAND IN ABUJA.

Farmland in Abuja is a great asset. To possess large hectares of farm lands in the City is the dream of so many people and businesses who understand the lucrative nature of metropolitan farming. Modern commercial farming is a goldmine, but only very few people and businesses are reaping this great wealth in Abuja. Eggs for instance, are brought into the City from faraway places like Ibadan, Jos, Kaduna, Kano and even South Africa because the few farms available cannot meet the demands of the City. The same applies to Chicken products and fish. Tomato consumption in Abuja is high, but there are no Green houses in the City to produce such vegetable fruits in commercial quantity. These vegetable products are brought into Abuja from other places. The few Animal Feed and Vegetable Oil industries in Abuja get their grain supplies from North East and other areas because there are only very few large commercial farms that produce Maize, Soya Beans, Benny Seed and other grains needed to power these Agro industries.

The opportunity in medium and large scale farming in Abuja is so vast that it can create unimaginable wealth in the short term, and an Economy of its own in the long term. There is large market both for local consumption and export. The infrastructure is available compared to some states. The Abuja International Airport can be used for exports. And above all, there are vast empty farmlands in Abuja that can sustain large scale crop production, animal husbandry and Agro and Allied industries. The Federal Capital Administration does not need any grant from the Federal Government if the opportunity in Abuja Agriculture is harnessed.

However, to acquire or buy farmlands in the Nigeria’s Federal Capital, Abuja could be very challenging, especially when one is not a resident or when the buyer is ignorance of the processes. Lack of information on how to acquire farm lands in Abuja has lead to lose of money by many buyers to criminal elements in the City. Many buyers of farmlands in Abuja are also in the habit of following ‘short-cuts’. This has lead to a situation where Agro investors buy large hectares of Abuja farmlands from local Chiefs, not knowing that Abuja Farmlands are allocated by the Government, not by local Chiefs. This has also lead to lose of large amount of money by investors. The above scenario has discouraged many Agro investors and rich farmers from investing in the highly lucrative farmlands in Abuja. It is therefore very important to understand the procedures and processes to follow before acquiring or buying a genuine Farmland in Abuja. These are discussed bellow in details.

HOW DO YOU ACQUIRE A FARMLAND IN ABUJA?
There are basically two ways to acquire farmlands in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. The first method is to apply to the Government for a Grant of Farmland. This Application could be made to the FCTA (Federal Capital Territory Administration, through AGIS (Abuja Geographic Information System); or, it could be made to any of the six Area Councils (Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali). In practice however, farmlands in Abuja are allocated by the Area Councils, not by AGIS. And it is only in three Area Councils that such farmlands are available in large scale. These Councils are Gwagwalada, Kwali and Kuje Area Councils. AMAC is a Metropolitan Council and does not have Farm land Layouts. Bwari is for Institutions, while Abaji though has farmland layouts, but far from the City. The procedure is just to obtain the Land Grant Application Form with a token fee, fill and submit it. Lands in Abuja are generally granted free of charge in theory. The process is very simple on its face value, but in practice, you must have a Facilitator with ‘Long Leg’ to be able to get the Grant. And you must definitely have to pay some money.
The second option is to purchase the Abuja Farmland from the market. To be able to successfully buy a genuine farmland in Abuja, the following must be observed:

a. Do not buy Abuja Farmlands from local Chiefs.
As earlier stated, farm lands in Abuja are allocated by AGIS or the Area Councils. The Title documents that follow such allocations are ‘R of O’ and ‘C of O’ (Right of Occupancy and Certificate of Occupancy respectively) Area Council Title documents are usually Re-Certified by AGIS. Local farmlands from local Chiefs are usually very cheap, but do not come with any Title Document, rather, purchase agreements which are not recognized by the Government.

b. Conduct Search at the Zonal Land Office before buying.
It is very important to conduct a proper search at the Land Zonal Office before buying Abuja Farmland Abuja. Do not trust the opinion of Farm Land Agents as regards the genuineness or otherwise of the Farmland. You can conduct the search by yourself or hire the services of a Lawyer. Fee for Farm Land search depends on whether it is FCDA Allocation or Area Council Allocation. Normally, the fee is between ten to twenty thousand Naira. If it is FCDA Allocation, you go to AGIS to conduct the search. But if it is Area Council Allocation, you go to the Zonal Land Office of that Area Council. Do not accept to conduct the search with photocopies of the Farmland documents. Ask the Seller to come with the Originals for sighting and confirmation by Land Officials.

SEE ALSO: ABUJA FARMLANDS: The Hidden Goldmine: https://abujafarmland..com.ng/2017/10/abuja-farmlands-hidden-goldmine-and.html

c. Take a Surveyor to confirm the location of the Farmland
An Abuja Farmland might be genuine, but the location you are shown by Agents might not be the exact location. Abuja Farmlands are generally located outside residential areas. But the mistake many buyers make is to always ask for farm lands that are near to where people live. Agents, who are always desperate to make the sale because of the Commission, exploit this weakness by showing you a nearby location. You only find out the exact location when you want to develop, and by that time, you must have paid. So, to save yourself this headache, let it be at the back of your mind that Abuja Farmland Layouts are not situated near residential areas. For goodness sake, what you are buying is a farm land, not hotel plot. There is no way you can find large hectares of Abuja farm lands near the town. Secondly, the only sure way to determine the exact location of a farm land is to ask a Surveyor to locate it. GPS does not lie. Be informed that Agents usually play on words: there is a great difference between ‘this is the area’ and ‘this is the land’. Tell the Agent that you need a Surveyor. Pay the few thousand Naira or thereabouts. It saves a lot!

d. Ask for the Deed of Assignment if the seller is not the original Allottee
If the Seller of the Abuja Farmland is not the Original Allottee, that is, if he/she is not the person whose name is on the Title Document, or, in the case of a Company, if the person is not a Director in the Company, then, you must ask for Deed of Assignment or at least, Power of Attorney. The Deed of Assignment or the Power of Attorney traces the history of the land transfers of ownership till date. These documents give information about the true owners of the land from buyer A to buyer B and to C. If the seller could not prove his/her ownership, DO NOT BUY! This is because, you may be buying from someone who is not the real owner, or even if the person is the real owner, it will be extremely difficult for you to resell the Farmland in future if you wish to do so.

e. Demand for Power of Attorney and Deed of Assignment after payment
After Search, confirmation of documents and payment, originals of the Abuja Farmland Title documents will be handed over you by the seller. But these actions alone do not make you the owner of the farmland because the Title is yet to be transferred to you. Ownership of the farmland moves from the seller to the buyer after the execution (signing) of the Power of Attorney and Deed of Assignment. So, you must hire a Lawyer to prepare these documents (three copies each) and have them registered at the High Court after the signing. These are also the documents you will use in the future to prove your ownership should the need arise.

f. Process your documents further
The Title documents may be R of O, or C of O. It may have been Re-Certified by AGIS or not. If the Title Document is a Re-Certified C of O, you do not need to do any further documentation, but if any of the Title documents is not Re-Certified, you try to send it to AGIS for Re-Certification. In a situation where the Title Document is R of O, then you need to upgrade it to C of O because R of O is a weaker Title. Farm land in Abuja with R of O is usually cheaper than the one with C of O because of the extra expenses of paying for the C of O. The fees are not much and the process is simple. Your Agent can easily arrange the documentations for you if he/she is a knowledgeable one.

g. Apply and Obtain Building Approval before development
It is advisable to apply and obtain Building Approval from the Department of Development Control before you commence development on the Farmland. This is to avoid the ugly situation of demolition. Use the services of a Surveyor to beacon and mark out the boundaries of your Abuja Farm land to avoid encroaching on another land. If there is no access road and you need to open an access road, make sure your Surveyor pegs it for you with data obtained from Land Office to avoid putting road on another person’s land. It costs only few thousands of Naira to do this.

h. Pay your Rents
In theory, Land rents are one of the major sources of Area Council Finance; but in practice, Area Councils in Abuja hardly ask you to pay any Rent on Abuja Farmlands. This is partly the result of the general ineffectiveness of Local Governments in Nigeria; and partly because of the free Allocations from the Federal Government. Others are also of the view that it is a form of indirect incentive to Agro investors and farmers. Whatever is the reason for not asking you for rents, the Law remains that you are to pay Ground Rent on your lands in Abuja. It is therefore advisable to pay your rents with or without prompting by the Government.

SEE ALSO: THE HOTTEST FARMLAND FOR SALE IN ABUJA: https://abujafarmland..com.ng/2017/08/the-hottest-farmland-in-abuja.html

SOURCE:
https://abujafarmland..com.ng/

Very Educative Piece! Thanks @Op for This.

another land seller.

Nice thread @ OP.
It's also wise to add that after the "long leg" you will still pay heavy compensation to the gwari's who 'own' the land.
This hectic process lead a lot of agricultural and non agricultural firms to sort for lands in near by nasarawa state.
I gathered nasarawa state don't do land allocation but I know they have the most cheaper lands compared to other states surrounding abuja. processing of papers for the land aquired is easy,fast and cheap.
But BE WISE and THREAD WITH CAUTION to avoid stories that touch.

Mistymash:
Nice thread @ OP.
It's also wise to add that after the "long leg" you will still pay heavy compensation to the gwari's who 'own' the land.
This hectic process lead a lot of agricultural and non agricultural firms to sort for lands in near by nasarawa state.
I gathered nasarawa state don't do land allocation but I know they have the most cheaper lands compared to other states surrounding abuja. processing of papers for the land aquired is easy,fast and cheap.
But BE WISE and THREAD WITH CAUTION to avoid stories that touch.

Land in Nasarawa is not owned by government but communally. You simply approach the indigenes who own the land, buy it off them, change the ownership at the LG level and proceed to NAGIS for R of O. So why buy farmland in Abuja when you can do same in Nasarawa at less the cost and less stress?

stagger:


Land in Nasarawa is not owned by government but communally. You simply approach the indigenes who own the land, buy it off them, change the ownership at the LG level and proceed to NAGIS for R of O. So why buy farmland in Abuja when you can do same in Nasarawa at less the cost and less stress?

You are correct only that Abuja is more secured after all. I was offered a 100 hectares at Keffi here for N15m, but that same size in Abuja is above N60m plus settlement. Well, it all depends on who is buying.

stagger:


Land in Nasarawa is not owned by government but communally. You simply approach the indigenes who own the land, buy it off them, change the ownership at the LG level and proceed to NAGIS for R of O. So why buy farmland in Abuja when you can do same in Nasarawa at less the cost and less stress?

I didn't mention land in Nasarawa state is owned by the state government,i know that already. We are saying the same thing; that it's easier and cheaper to procure and process land and it's papers in Nasarawa state than Abuja.

kudosamass:


You are correct only that Abuja is more secured after all. I was offered a 100 hectares at Keffi here for N15m, but that same size in Abuja is above N60m plus settlement. Well, it all depends on who is buying.

@ kudosamass please, the 100 hectares you were offered is it before the university or after?

Mistymash:

@ kudosamass please, the 100 hectares you were offered is it before the university or after?

@Mistymash, it is along Nasarawa Toto Road. It is still available if you are interested.

Nasarawa Toto is far sha. Thought it's around those Uke villages or after uni. Will keep in mind though.

Mistymash:
Nasarawa Toto is far sha. Thought it's around those Uke villages or after uni. Will keep in mind though.

Which uni is that? is it the proposed American University just after Uke and before Gora?

Mistymash:
Nice thread @ OP.
It's also wise to add that after the "long leg" you will still pay heavy compensation to the gwari's who 'own' the land.
This hectic process lead a lot of agricultural and non agricultural firms to sort for lands in near by nasarawa state.
I gathered nasarawa state don't do land allocation but I know they have the most cheaper lands compared to other states surrounding abuja. processing of papers for the land aquired is easy,fast and cheap.
But BE WISE and THREAD WITH CAUTION to avoid stories that touch.

Thank you.

stagger:


Land in Nasarawa is not owned by government but communally. You simply approach the indigenes who own the land, buy it off them, change the ownership at the LG level and proceed to NAGIS for R of O. So why buy farmland in Abuja when you can do same in Nasarawa at less the cost and less stress?

Wow! Thanks for the piece.