Land Titles in Lagos: C of O, Deed of Assignment, Governor’s Consent and What Each One Means for Your Property Rights

Why All Lagos Land is Ultimately Government Land

The starting point for understanding any Lagos land title is the Land Use Act 1978 (Cap L5, LFN 2004). The Act vested all land within each state of the federation in the Governor of that state, to be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians. What this means in practice is that no individual or company in Nigeria owns land outright in the freehold sense that exists in some other jurisdictions. What is owned is a right of occupancy — a government-granted right to use and enjoy land.

This framework has two immediate practical consequences for Lagos property buyers. First, the Government retains ultimate ownership of all land, which means the Government can revoke a right of occupancy for overriding public interest — roads, public infrastructure, housing schemes — subject to the payment of compensation based on improvements only, not market value. Second, and more immediately relevant to every property transaction, every transfer of a right of occupancy from one party to another requires the prior approval of the Governor under Section 22 of the Act.

This is why understanding the distinction between different title documents in Lagos is not an academic exercise — it is the practical foundation of knowing exactly what legal right you are buying, what protections it carries, and what obligations you must fulfil to ensure it is fully enforceable.

Certificate of Occupancy: The Gold Standard Title

The Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) is the strongest land title document in Lagos. It is issued directly by the Lagos State Government and evidences a statutory right of occupancy granted by the Governor under Section 9 of the Land Use Act. A C of O confirms that the holder has been formally recognised by the state government as the person entitled to occupy and use the land described in the certificate.

What a C of O confirms

• The registered holder’s name and identity
• The precise description and coordinates of the land
• The term of the right of occupancy — typically 99 years from the date of grant
• Any conditions attached to the right (such as development obligations or permitted use restrictions)
• The file number under which the title is registered at the Lagos State Land Registry

Verifying a C of O

The file number on a C of O is the key verification reference. A formal Land Registry search at the Lagos State Land Registry in Alausa, Ikeja — using the file number — will confirm whether the C of O is genuine, who the current registered holder is, and whether any encumbrances, mortgages, or charges are registered against it. This search is the non-negotiable first step in verifying any C of O presented by a seller.

How a C of O is transferred

When a property held under a C of O is sold, the transaction requires: a Deed of Assignment transferring the right of occupancy from seller to buyer; the Governor’s Consent to that assignment (required under Section 22 of the Land Use Act); stamping of the consented deed at the stamp duties office; and registration of the stamped, consented deed at the Lagos State Land Registry. All four steps must be completed for the transfer to be fully perfected. A transaction that completes steps one and two but not three and four is contractually effective but not fully protected under law.

Governor’s Consent: What It Is and Why Every Transfer Requires It

Governor’s Consent is the Lagos State Government’s formal approval for the transfer of a right of occupancy from one party to another. It is required by Section 22 of the Land Use Act for every alienation — every sale, gift, mortgage, sublease, or other transfer — of a statutory right of occupancy.

The language of the Act is unambiguous: it is unlawful to alienate a right of occupancy without the prior consent of the Governor first had and obtained. A transfer without consent is not merely incomplete — it is null and void. No court will give effect to a transfer that did not obtain the required consent.

The Governor’s Consent application process in Lagos

The application for Governor’s Consent is submitted to the Directorate of Land Services at the Lagos State Lands Bureau in Alausa, Ikeja. The core documents required are:

• A completed Land Form 1C — the official application form, signed by both seller and buyer and sworn before a Magistrate or Notary Public
• A Certified True Copy of the root of title — usually the C of O or a previously registered Governor’s Consent
• Three copies of the Deed of Assignment or instrument of transfer, each with a clear approved survey plan attached
• Four passport photographs of the vendor (5×5, white background)
• Certificate of Incorporation and directors’ particulars if either party is a company
• A cover letter from the solicitor filing the application

The cost of Governor’s Consent in Lagos

Once the application is reviewed and accepted, the Lagos State Lands Bureau issues a Demand Notice specifying the fees payable. The fee structure is based on 3% of the assessed fair market value of the property, broken down as follows: consent fee at 1.5% of assessed value; Capital Gains Tax at 0.5%; stamp duty at 0.5%; and registration fee at 0.5%. A Neighbourhood Improvement Charge is assessed separately based on land size and the number of years of the relevant title. The ₦10,500 application fee is payable on submission.

Deed of Assignment: When Is It Sufficient?

A Deed of Assignment is a legal document that transfers an interest in land from one party (the assignor/seller) to another (the assignee/buyer). In Lagos, a Deed of Assignment is commonly used as the transfer instrument in property transactions — it is the document that formally records the agreement between the parties that ownership is passing from seller to buyer.

The critical point buyers must understand is this: a Deed of Assignment on its own — without Governor’s Consent having been obtained — is contractually effective between the immediate parties but is not a perfected title under the Land Use Act. It cannot be registered at the Land Registry. It cannot be used as security for a bank mortgage. And if the seller subsequently sells the same property to another buyer who obtains Governor’s Consent, the second buyer’s title may override the first buyer’s unregistered interest.

When a Deed of Assignment is appropriate

A Deed of Assignment is the correct instrument to use as the transfer document in any Lagos property sale — it records the transaction between the parties and forms the basis for the subsequent application for Governor’s Consent. Every property sale in Lagos should have a properly executed Deed of Assignment. The problem arises not from the Deed of Assignment itself but from treating it as the end of the transaction rather than one step in the perfection process.

Other Title Documents: Gazette, Excision, Sublease, and Conveyance

Gazette and Excision

A Gazette or Excision document confirms that a parcel of land has been released from government acquisition and formally granted to a community or family. Land in excised areas — particularly in Lagos’s peri-urban zones — may be sold by families or communities without a C of O, on the basis of the Gazette as the root of title. This is legitimate but requires careful verification: the Gazette publication reference must be confirmed, the specific property must be shown to fall within the excised area through charting at the Surveyor-General’s office, and the family or community’s authority to sell must be verified through appropriate community documentation.

Deed of Sublease

A Deed of Sublease is used where a developer or landowner holds the headlease from the Lagos State Government and sells individual plots or units to buyers by way of sublease. This structure is common in planned estates and certain developments in Lagos. The sublease term must be within the headlease term — a buyer cannot receive a sublease for 60 years if the headlease has only 40 years remaining. Buyers acquiring through a sublease structure must review the headlease carefully and confirm that all head rent and other charges are current.

Registered Conveyance

A Registered Conveyance is a pre-Land Use Act title document — it was the standard transfer instrument before the Act came into force in 1978. Properties in older areas of Lagos Island, Victoria Island, and Ikoyi may still have title chains that include registered conveyances as historical documents. These are legitimate but require particularly careful title chain analysis to confirm that all subsequent transfers were properly handled under the Land Use Act framework that applies today.

Side-by-Side Comparison: All Lagos Land Title Types

Understanding the Title Chain: Why History Matters

A title chain is the history of ownership of a piece of land from the original grant through every subsequent transfer to the present owner. In Lagos, a complete and clean title chain typically looks like this: original C of O issued to Person A → Deed of Assignment from A to B with Governor’s Consent → Deed of Assignment from B to C with Governor’s Consent → current owner C holds a registered, consented, stamped title.

The problem arises when any link in that chain is broken. If the transfer from A to B was completed without Governor’s Consent — perhaps because the parties did not know it was required, or because they were in a hurry — that void transaction does not become valid simply because subsequent parties dealt with the property in good faith. The defect in the chain at the A-to-B stage runs through to C and potentially beyond.

This is why title verification in Lagos cannot stop at checking the most recent document. A buyer who verifies only that their seller has a properly executed Deed of Assignment with Governor’s Consent, without checking that the seller’s acquisition was also properly consented to, may be acquiring a property with a defective title chain that was created two transactions ago.

The practical implication is that a title chain search — tracing the ownership history back to the original C of O or root of title — is a core component of proper real estate due diligence in Lagos. It is not an optional extra. For a full guide to conducting due diligence on a Lagos property, see our Complete Real Estate Due Diligence Guide.