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C of O vs. Governor's Consent: what Lagos land buyers actually need
Legal

C of O vs. Governor's Consent: what Lagos land buyers actually need

8 min read5 days ago
Barr. Tunde Adebayo
Property Counsel, Lagos

The two documents are not interchangeable. Here's the difference, and what to ask for at each stage.

A Certificate of Occupancy proves the state has granted you a 99-year right of occupancy on a specific parcel. A Governor's Consent, on the other hand, is the state's approval of a later transfer of that parcel from one party to another.

If a seller hands you a C of O in someone else's name and tells you 'consent is in process', what you actually own — until consent is perfected — is a contract, not the land.

Before signing anything, request a charting report from the Lagos State Lands Bureau. It costs a fraction of the deposit and tells you whether the plot is under government acquisition, committed or free.

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