Market Intelligence

A government that offers land as security must contemplate the possibility that enforcement will place that land in someone else’s hands. If it later invokes overriding public interest to dispossess the purchaser simply because it wants the property back, the dispute concerns more than land administration. It concerns whether public power may be deployed to reverse the consequences of a commercial obligation.

Real estate has traditionally been associated with physical property, paper-based documentation and conventional financing. However, the rapid development of technology is beginning to challenge some of these known traditional structures, such as the use of blockchain technology and digital assets in real estate investment.

Consequently, every prudent purchaser must undertake comprehensive legal due diligence before completing any land transaction.

Nigerian port investments demand rigorous legal due diligence beyond cargo volumes and concession terms. From land title verification under multiple overlapping regimes to navigating the new NPERA regulatory framework, investors must understand what they're actually acquiring—whether it's freehold title, a lease, or operational rights under a BOOT concession that reverts to government at term end.

An individual or entity that desires, intends, or is actively negotiating to buy a parcel of land in the Federal Capital Territory (“FCT”) must apply great care and show diligence in every stage of the transaction.

A piece of land can look like an excellent investment and still be legally unsuitable for the project you have in mind. In Nigeria, a buyer may discover after payment that the property is affected by government acquisition, a reservation, a proposed infrastructure corridor, competing claims or restrictions on its use. This is why checking the title alone is not enough. Before buying land in Nigeria, investors should establish who has the legal interest in the property, whether that interest can be transferred, whether the land is affected by government acquisition and whether it can legally be used for the proposed development.