Buying Land in Lagos? Why Due Diligence and Title Verification Are Non-Negotiable

Land in Lagos is one of the most reliable stores of value in Nigeria — and one of the easiest places to lose money quickly. Every week, buyers in Lekki, Ajah, Ibeju and the mainland corridors part with sums that took years to save, on the strength of a photocopied document, a confident seller, and a plot that looked perfectly ordinary on inspection day. Months later, a family shows up claiming the land was never sold. Or the state announces the parcel sits within a committed acquisition. Or a second buyer arrives holding a deed for the same coordinates.

At OAA Law we take instructions on these matters constantly, and the pattern rarely varies: the money moved before the title was verified. This article sets out what proper due diligence looks like in Lagos, and why it is the single cheapest form of insurance available to a property buyer.

The fraud patterns that repeat

Land fraud in Lagos is not especially creative. It recycles the same handful of schemes.

• The double sale. The same plot sold to two or more buyers, each holding a deed of assignment executed by the same seller.
• The family land problem. A single family member sells land that belongs collectively to the family, without the consent of the accredited representatives. The transaction is voidable, and the buyer inherits the fight.
• Government acquisition. Land under general or committed government acquisition, sold as though it were free. If the parcel has not been excised and gazetted, the buyer may be paying for a claim the state does not recognise.
• The Omo Onile cycle. Payment made, then repeated demands from self-styled land-owning families at every stage of development.
• Forged documentation. Survey plans, receipts and even Certificates of Occupancy that do not correspond to anything in the registry.

Each of these is detectable before payment. None of them is detectable by looking at the land.

The documents to demand — and what they actually prove

A seller who is transacting properly will produce documents without friction. OAA Law asks for the following as a minimum:

• Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) or the relevant root of title — a deed of assignment traced back through a clean chain, a Governor's Consent, a gazette, or an excision document.
• Survey plan, with a clear surveyor's number, so the parcel can be charted against registry records.
• Deed of assignment from the immediate seller, with the seller's title established, not assumed.
• Evidence of excision and Gazette where the land derives from family or community holdings.
• Land use charge and tax receipts, which help establish possession and occupation history.
• Purchase receipts and consent history for every previous transfer in the chain.

A document is not proof of title. It is evidence of a claim to title. The difference is the entire point of a search.

What a proper search involves

Verification means going where the records live, not where the seller says they live.

At the Lagos State Land Registry, a search confirms whether the title exists as described, who is registered, whether the parcel is encumbered by a mortgage or caveat, and whether the state has any acquisition interest. A charting exercise at the Surveyor-General's office confirms whether the survey plan sits where it claims to sit and whether it falls within a committed acquisition. A physical inspection tests occupation: who is on the land, what has been built, who the neighbours believe owns it, and whether there is any visible dispute.

Where the land is family-derived, the enquiry extends to accreditation — establishing which representatives can validly convey, and confirming that they have all executed.

A buyer who spends a few hundred thousand naira on verification is buying certainty over an asset worth many multiples of that. A buyer who skips it is financing a future lawsuit.

Why a lawyer, and not a "land agent"

An agent is paid on completion. Their commercial interest is that the deal closes. A property lawyer is paid to tell you when it should not. That structural difference matters more than any technical knowledge.

Beyond the searches, our law firm handles the documentation itself: drafting or reviewing the deed of assignment so the parties, parcel and consideration are correctly described; ensuring the seller's spouse or co-owners execute where required; advising on the correct holding structure; and taking the transaction through to perfection — Governor's Consent, stamping and registration. An unperfected transfer is not a completed purchase. It is a receipt with ambition.

How OAA Law handles acquisition advisory

Our real estate practice runs to a fixed sequence: verify, structure, perfect, protect.

We begin with the searches and a written due diligence report that states, in plain language, whether the transaction is safe, conditionally safe, or should be abandoned. Where we recommend proceeding, OAA Law advises on how the asset should be held — personally, through a company, or through a special purpose vehicle — because that decision affects tax, succession and eventual exit. We then draft and negotiate the transfer documents, supervise payment against milestones rather than trust, and take the interest through perfection at the registry.

For clients buying from abroad, the entire process runs remotely on a properly drawn power of attorney, with photographic inspection reports and registry evidence supplied at each stage.

The firm's guiding principle in this practice is simple: help clients acquire, protect, and maximise the value of their property assets. Verification is the first of those three, and everything else depends on it.

Before you pay

If you are within days of transferring funds for a Lagos property, stop and ask three questions. Has the title been searched at the registry, by someone acting for you? Has the survey been charted? Has anyone confirmed that the person signing has the legal capacity to convey?

If the answer to any of them is no, the transaction is not ready. Speak to OAA Law before you sign, and let the verification happen while it can still save you something. Our law firm advises buyers, investors and developers across Lekki and the wider Lagos market, and a consultation costs a fraction of the dispute it prevents.