Governor's Consent, C of O, and the geometry of a clean title.

Under the Land Use Act, all land in a Nigerian state is vested in the Governor, held in trust for the people. What you buy is never the land itself; it is a right of occupancy. Everything that follows — every document, every fee, every delay — flows from that single constitutional fact.

Certificate of Occupancy

A C of O is the state's formal grant of a right of occupancy, typically for ninety-nine years. It is the strongest ordinary evidence of title a private holder can carry. But a C of O is not self-executing: it is issued to a named holder over a surveyed parcel, and it binds only that parcel. A seller waving a C of O for a larger estate is not proving title to your specific plot.

Governor's Consent

Here is the step most buyers underestimate. Once land is held under a right of occupancy, any subsequent transfer requires the Governor's consent to be valid. A deed of assignment without consent is not a completed transfer — it is a contract between two private parties that the state has not recognised. Years later, when you attempt to sell, mortgage, or defend the plot, the absence of consent is precisely where the transaction fails.

Consent takes time and costs money. Both are cheaper than litigation.

Excision and Gazette

For land in areas under government acquisition, the relevant question is whether the community's portion has been formally excised and published in the state gazette. An excision gazette with a specific survey reference is a real document. A promise that excision is 'in progress' is a timeline, not a title.

The verification sequence we use

Search the registry in the buyer's name. Chart the survey to confirm the parcel sits outside acquisition. Trace the chain of assignment from the original grant to the current seller, with consent at each transfer. Confirm there is no subsisting encumbrance, charge, or court process. Only then does money move.

The geometry of it

A clean title is not one document. It is a closed shape: grant, survey, chain, consent, registration. Remove any side and the figure no longer holds — which is exactly what a court will find when someone eventually tests it.