The three documents behind one Lagos title.

Why three documents, not one

People say "the title" as though a Lagos property carries a single piece of paper. It usually carries three that do different jobs, and most disputes come from treating one of them as if it were the others.

The Certificate of Occupancy is the government’s original grant. The Deed of Assignment is the private contract that moves whatever is left of that grant from a seller to a buyer. The Governor’s Consent is the state’s approval of that move, without which the contract has not been perfected.

The Certificate of Occupancy

A C of O is issued by the state Governor under the Land Use Act 1978, which vests land in each state in its Governor and lets the Governor grant a statutory right of occupancy. It runs for 99 years from its commencement date and can be renewed.

• Only one C of O can exist on a parcel of land at a time, and it is issued to the first allottee.
• It is issued for land with no earlier recorded title at the registry — not on every resale.
• It records the holder’s name, the location and size of the land, and the permitted use.
• It can be revoked by the Governor for overriding public interest, and revocation can be challenged in court.
• It is not automatically a good root of title on its own where other interests already exist on the property.

Because it is issued once, a C of O in the seller’s name is not evidence that the seller is still the person entitled to it. It is the start of the chain, not the end of it.

Governor’s Consent

Section 22 of the Land Use Act is the reason this document exists: a holder of a statutory right of occupancy cannot assign, mortgage, transfer possession or sublet without the Governor’s consent first obtained. In practice, that means a property that already has a C of O cannot be validly sold without it.

• It is sought by the buyer, on a transaction that has already been agreed — not instead of the agreement.
• It is endorsed on the Deed of Assignment rather than issued as a fresh certificate.
• It does not create a new 99-year term. The unexpired portion of the original grant simply continues.
• It can be issued again each time the property changes hands.
• The Governor may sign personally or delegate, so a consent signed by a commissioner or deputy governor is normal.

The common and expensive misconception is that a buyer needs both a C of O and a Governor’s Consent for the same purchase. You need one or the other depending on the transaction: a C of O for a first allocation, a Governor’s Consent when buying from someone who already holds one.

The Deed of Assignment

This is the contract between the seller (the assignor) and the buyer (the assignee), normally prepared by a legal practitioner. It transfers the seller’s unexpired interest — the residue of the term — and records the date, the parties, the property and the consideration.

On its own it is an agreement between two private people. It becomes legally effective against the world when it has been consented to, stamped, and registered at the land registry. Those three steps together are what “perfecting title” means, and a deed that has not been through them leaves the buyer with possession and paperwork but not with a perfected title.

What the desk actually checks

ilee records which document was presented, from a list that matches the statute rather than a marketing category: a Certificate of Occupancy, a Governor’s Consent, a Deed of Assignment, an excision and gazette, a power of attorney, a family receipt only, or nothing at all.

It also records whether the original was sighted rather than a photograph or a copy, and whether the name on the document matches the owner of record. Those two questions catch more problems than the document type does, because a convincing copy of a real document belonging to someone else is the ordinary shape of this fraud.

Two limits, stated plainly. ilee is not a law firm and does not give a legal opinion on a title; the desk records what a person sighted and when. And a tier-3 “ilee Verified” home means the title check was completed and recorded — not that the title is guaranteed. Before money changes hands you need your own lawyer and your own search at the registry.

What to ask for, in order

1. The title document itself, and the original to sight — not only a scan.
2. A registered Deed of Assignment showing the chain from the previous owner.
3. The survey plan, so the land described can be matched to the land you are standing on.
4. Confirmation of whether the land falls inside government acquisition, and if so whether it is committed or ratifiable.
5. Evidence that stamp duty was paid and the deed registered.
6. A receipt in the name of the person actually selling to you.

If a seller cannot produce most of that, the honest answer is not that the property is bad. It is that the price should reflect an unperfected title, and that your lawyer has work to do before you pay.