CONDITION PRECEDENT TO LAND REGISTRATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Land is nature gift to humans and on it we live, build, farm, excavate mineral
resources which to a great extent sustain livelihood. To get a good title to land
that will be free from future title tussle, there are condition precedents to be
religiously pursued before land registration in Nigeria. Land, buildings and
structures firmly affixed to the land must be thoroughly investigated by the
purchaser or the purchaser’s agent before payment of purchase price. Land
registration thereof covers the public recording of land rights via deed
registration, title registration or digital registration. Lack of registration of land
has led to uncertainty in land transaction, loss of income, land title litigation,
loss of lives and the most state lands have remained unknown. This article
discovered that the preliminary steps to be taken before land registration in
Nigeria include finding out who the legal owner of land is, also investigating the
earlier registered title and who the direct descendant of the land owning
families are in the case of a communal or family land. The paper recommended
that the survey plan should capture the purchaser’s exact land and that
Registrar of land should inquire into the sufficiency of land title documents
before land registration.