Is Your Lagos Land Really Yours Without Governor’s Consent?

The Deed of Assignment is signed. The seller has the money. Your cousin has sent a photo of the signature page with three thumbs-up emojis. It feels finished. Then a lawyer friend asks one quiet question: “Has the Governor consented to it?” And you realise you do not know whether the plot is actually yours.

Sources last checked: 27 September 2026, against the official sources listed at the end of this guide. If a fee, form or portal has changed since, tell us and we will correct it.

In Lagos, that question decides everything. A deed without Governor’s Consent is a promise, not a transfer. This guide covers what consent is, who needs it, the documents the Lagos State Lands Bureau asks for, the process in order, and what a wrong answer sounds like.

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Why a signed deed is not the finish line

Nigeria’s Land Use Act 1978 vests the land in each state in the Governor, held in trust. What a private person holds is a right of occupancy. When a holder sells to you, they are transferring that right, and the Act says they need permission to do it.

Section 22 puts it plainly: “It shall not be lawful for the holder of a statutory right of occupancy granted by the Governor to alienate his right of occupancy or any part thereof by assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise howsoever without the consent of the Governor first had and obtained.”

Section 26 says what happens otherwise: “Any transaction or any instrument which purports to confer on or vest in any person any interest or right over land other than in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be null and void.”

Read those two lines together. Your Deed of Assignment is the seller’s agreement to transfer. Governor’s Consent is the state saying the transfer may stand. Without it, what you hold is incomplete, and incomplete is what a second buyer or a disputing relative looks for.

Section 21 sets a similar rule for customary rights of occupancy, with the Governor’s consent in some cases and local government approval in others. If your land has a customary root rather than a C of O, the consent question changes shape; it does not go away. Our guide to buying land in Nigeria walks the whole chain.

Who needs Governor’s Consent in Lagos

Most diaspora purchases are transfers from an existing holder, not fresh grants. These are the situations where consent is the step people find out about too late.

• You are buying from a C of O holder or an earlier consented title. Your Deed of Assignment needs consent to perfect the transfer.
• You are taking or giving a mortgage on the land. The Act lists mortgages alongside assignments, which is why unperfected land is hard to borrow against.
• You are subleasing, or receiving the land as a gift. The Lands Bureau treats gifts as their own category of consent application.
• Somebody earlier in the chain skipped it. If your seller bought without consent, their title is the weak link and yours is built on it. Ask to see the consent on every prior transfer.

A photo of a C of O in the seller’s grandfather’s name proves the grandfather’s grant, not the three transfers since. Our land documents checklist shows what each paper proves and what it does not.

The documents the Lands Bureau asks for

Tick each of these before your lawyer lodges anything; if an item is “still being processed”, the application is not ready. The list follows the Bureau’s page. Check it on the day you file, because requirements change.

• A duly completed Land Form 1C, the consent application form.
• A Certified True Copy of the root of title: the C of O or earlier instrument the seller’s right rests on.
• The Deed or instrument of transfer, in the number of copies the Bureau specifies, each with a clear survey plan attached.
• Passport photographs of the applicant, in the size and background the Bureau specifies.
• For a company buyer, the certificate of incorporation and particulars of directors.
• Dated site photographs and a site location sketch.
• The payment receipt for the fixed processing fee covering charting, endorsement and Form 1C.
• If someone is applying on your behalf, a letter of authority from you and their means of identification.
• A covering letter with a working telephone number and email address.

For someone abroad, the letter of authority is how your lawyer or a relative files for you. Keep it narrow: this application, nothing broader. Our guide on power of attorney back home explains why.

The Lagos Governor’s Consent process, step by step

The Bureau’s own workflow has four stages: application, demand notice, payment, release of the registered deed. Here it is with the steps you control added.

1. Verify before you apply. Commission your own search at the Lagos State Land Registry on the seller’s title: the root exists, the seller is the registered holder, earlier transfers were consented to. Never rely on a seller-supplied search result.
2. Execute the Deed of Assignment properly. Your own lawyer drafts or reviews it, referencing the root of title, with a survey plan that matches the ground.
3. Complete Land Form 1C and assemble the bundle. Every item above, processing fee paid and receipted.
4. Submit the application to the Directorate of Land Services. Keep the stamped acknowledgement or reference number. Photograph it and send it to yourself the same day.
5. Charting and endorsement. The Bureau charts the survey plan against its records. This is where acquisition and overlap problems surface, and you want them here, not in court.
6. Receive the Demand Notice. Charges are assessed on a Fair Market Value from the Lagos State Official Gazette, not on the price you paid. Read it line by line before anyone pays.
7. Pay the assessed charges and submit all receipts. Traceable payments to the designated accounts only. The Bureau asks for every receipt before it proceeds.
8. Collect the registered deed. The Bureau’s final stage is the release of the registered instrument to the applicant, carrying the consent and registration particulars.
9. Prove it to yourself. Commission a fresh search on your own title. If the register shows you, it worked. If not, you have found out while it can still be fixed.

None of this needs you in Lagos. It needs a lawyer who answers to you, a lodgement reference you hold, and receipts in your name.

What Governor’s Consent costs: the structure, not a number

You will hear totals thrown around, usually by someone offering to “sort it”. Learn the structure instead. It is what lets you read a Demand Notice and know whether it is right.

For a standard assignment, the Lands Bureau describes the charge as an aggregate percentage of assessed value made up of four lines: consent fee, capital gains tax, stamp duty and registration fee. Private or excised land may also attract Neighbourhood Improvement Charges. Mortgages are charged per unit of loan value; gifts are exempt from the capital gains line. The current percentages are on the Bureau’s page, linked in the sources below.

Three things follow:

• The percentage applies to the Bureau’s Fair Market Value, so the price you negotiated does not set your bill.
• Every line on the Demand Notice should match the Bureau’s published structure. A line you cannot match is a question, not a payment.
• Budget for consent as part of the purchase. An unperfected deed is how one bad deal ends up costing £20,000–£60,000 rather than a filing fee.

What a wrong answer sounds like

Nobody says “we skipped consent”. They say something softer. These are the phrases where the deal turns.

• “Nobody round here bothers with consent, it’s just extra tax.” Section 22 has no area exemption.
• “Your deed is your consent.” It is not. One is the seller’s signature; the other is the state’s. Ask to see the consent endorsement itself.
• “It’s at the Bureau, it will be out any day.” Ask for the lodgement reference and the Demand Notice. If neither exists, nothing was lodged.
• “Give me the consent money in cash and I’ll process it.” Charges are assessed on a Demand Notice and paid to designated accounts. There is no cash version.
• “The previous owner didn’t get consent but that doesn’t affect you.” It affects you most. You are buying the weak link.

Run the three-question test on any advice. Does it name the exact office and form, or just say “perfect your title”? Does it give you the words to say when the seller pushes back? Does it tell you what a wrong answer sounds like? If not, it is reassurance, not process. The omo onile guide applies the same test to the people who turn up after you have paid.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Deed of Assignment without Governor’s Consent valid in Lagos?

Not as a completed transfer. Section 22 of the Land Use Act makes it unlawful for the holder of a statutory right of occupancy to assign it without the Governor’s consent first had and obtained, and section 26 says a transaction that does not comply with the Act is null and void. The deed records what you and the seller agreed; consent perfects it. Until consent is granted, treat your position as incomplete and do not build, borrow or resell on the deed alone. Ask a licensed Nigerian lawyer how the courts treat an unconsented deed in your situation.

What is Land Form 1C and where do I get it?

Land Form 1C is the application form for Governor’s Consent in Lagos State. The Lands Bureau lists a duly completed Form 1C first in its requirements, alongside the certified copy of the root of title, the deed of transfer with survey plans, passport photographs, dated site photographs, a site location sketch, the processing fee receipt and a covering letter with working contact details. The form comes through the Lands Bureau under the processing fee that also covers charting and endorsement. Anyone filing for you needs your letter of authority and their own identification.

How much does Governor’s Consent cost in Lagos?

It depends on the Bureau’s assessed value, not the price you paid. For a standard assignment the Lagos State Lands Bureau describes the charge as an aggregate percentage made up of a consent fee, capital gains tax, stamp duty and a registration fee, plus Neighbourhood Improvement Charges on private or excised land, and a fixed processing fee for charting, endorsement and Form 1C. Mortgages and gifts follow different lines. The Bureau issues a Demand Notice based on the Fair Market Value in the Lagos State Official Gazette; the current percentages are on its Governor’s Consent page. Read the notice against that page before paying.

Do you know whether your Lagos plot is perfected, or just paid for?

Most people cannot answer that from memory, and find out at the worst moment. Take the free 3-minute Scorecard: Tell me where my land purchase is exposed. 12 questions, and you will know your weakest point before another naira moves.

If your brother or sister is holding a Lagos deed right now and cannot say whether consent was granted, send them this article tonight.

The Mainland teaches process, not legal, financial or tax advice. Verify locally; use licensed professionals.