Most land disputes in Nigeria are not created in court. They are created at the point of purchase, by a buyer who paid before verifying. Here is the checklist we run for every client.
Land litigation is among the most common and the most bitter work that comes through a Nigerian chambers. What is striking is how rarely the dispute is genuinely unavoidable. In the overwhelming majority of files we open, the fatal decision was made months or years earlier — at the point of purchase, by a buyer who paid before verifying.
Below is the sequence we run for every client buying land. It is not exhaustive, and it is not a substitute for instructing counsel. It is the minimum.
1. Establish who the seller actually is
A seller may be the registered owner, a family head, an attorney acting under a power of attorney, an administrator of an estate, or someone with no legal capacity whatsoever. Each of those requires a different document to prove authority, and the last of them appears far more often than buyers expect.
Where the land is family or community land, ask who the principal members of the family are and whether the head of family is selling with their consent. A sale by the head of family without consent is voidable; a sale by a member without the head is void.
2. Run a search at the Lands Registry
A registry search reveals the registered proprietor, prior registered instruments, existing mortgages and, sometimes, caveats or pending litigation. It is inexpensive, it is quick, and it is the single most valuable step available to you.
If a seller resists a registry search, you have already learned the most important thing about the transaction.
3. Inspect the land physically — and ask the neighbours
Documents describe a parcel; they do not tell you that someone is farming it, that a structure sits on part of it, or that a neighbouring family disputes the boundary. Walk the land. Speak to the people around it. Note anything on it that does not belong to the seller.
4. Confirm the land is not under government acquisition
Land subject to a government acquisition — for a road, a scheme or a public purpose — may be worth a fraction of what you are being asked to pay, or nothing at all. Enquiries at the relevant state ministry will establish whether the parcel falls within an acquired or committed area, and whether any excision has been granted.
5. Verify the survey plan against the parcel
A survey plan should be checked against the records of the Surveyor-General to confirm that the coordinates correspond to the land you inspected and that the plan is not a duplication of another parcel. Charting is routine work and it catches errors that no amount of documentary review will.
6. Read the chain of title, not just the last document
A deed of assignment in favour of your seller proves nothing if the person who assigned it to them had no title to give. Trace the chain back as far as the documents allow, and treat any gap in the chain as a defect until it is explained.
7. Plan for consent and registration before you pay
Under the Land Use Act, a transfer of a statutory right of occupancy requires the Governor's consent. Without it your interest may be unenforceable against third parties, you will struggle to use the land as security, and a resale becomes considerably harder. Consent and registration are not optional afterthoughts — they belong in the transaction timetable and in the price you agree.
What this costs, and what it saves
A full pre-purchase due diligence exercise — searches, physical inspection, charting, acquisition enquiries and a written report — is a small fraction of the purchase price. A contested land suit can run for years, consume many multiples of that sum, and still end with you holding nothing.
If you are about to buy, instruct counsel before you pay a deposit. If you have already paid and are now uneasy, instruct counsel today; some defects can still be cured, and the ones that cannot are better known early.
Note. This article is general commentary on Nigerian law and is not legal advice. Its application depends entirely on your facts. Speak to counsel before acting on anything you read here.