Real estate · Nigeria
Perfect a land title (C of O / Governor's Consent)
Perfect ownership of land under the Land Use Act 1978, which vests all land in the state Governor. A first grant produces a Certificate of Occupancy; every subsequent transfer requires the Governor's Consent, obtained from the state Lands Bureau: search → Form 1C application → charting & assessment → pay consent/capital-gains/stamp/registration fees → consent endorsed and deed registered.
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Who you will deal with
The steps
- Identify which instrument you need
- State Lands Bureau / Ministry of Lands
- Under the Land Use Act 1978 all land is vested in the state Governor in trust for the people. A first statutory grant produces a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O). Any subsequent transfer of land already covered by a C of O requires the Governor's Consent - a transfer without it is inchoate.
- Root of title (C of O, deed, excision/gazette)
- Precondition
- Conduct a search and prepare the instrument
- Lands Registry; solicitor
- Conduct an official search at the Lands Registry to confirm the root title and encumbrances. Prepare the Deed of Assignment (or other instrument of transfer) with the approved survey plan attached.
- Search report; Deed of Assignment (3 copies); survey plan
- Days-weeks
- File the consent application
- State Lands Bureau (Land Services Department)
- File Land Form 1C with a Certified True Copy of the root title, three copies of the deed with clear approved survey plans attached, and four passport photographs of the vendor. The file goes for charting, then to the Land Services Department for assessment.
- Land Form 1C; CTC of root title; deeds; survey plans; vendor passports
- Weeks-months
- Pay the assessed fees; consent and registration
- State Lands Bureau; state internal revenue service
- Pay the assessed charges - consent fee, capital gains tax, stamp duty and registration fee (rates are set per state). Once payments are confirmed, the Land Services Department sends the file to a designated commissioner who grants the Consent on the Governor's behalf; the deed is then stamped and registered at the Lands Registry.
- Consent fee; CGT; stamp duty; registration fee
- Months (state-dependent)
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The numbers behind the decision
Knowing the process is half of it. ONYX also tracks the operating environment you are entering — daily grid generation, official FX, state-level input prices and inflation, and sector output — each figure source-linked and dated.