Laws guiding potential real estate investors are referred to as property law; these are laws designed by the constitution to specifically regulate the relation of individuals (the community or state ) to property thereby creating a secure foundation for the acquisition, enjoyment and disposal of property. That is, property laws are guidelines and procedures that governs the various forms of ownership of real property and personal property.
In a multi-ethic society like Nigeria, investing in real estate or acquiring properties particularly in the rural areas come with a barrage of hurdles due to some certain factors which include; paying unnecessary expenses to community development authorities, losing the property to land grabbers, fear of the property being illegally resold, or for the rural community forcefully taking the property from the investors.
Due to this factors, a lot of potential investors are scared of acquiring properties in rural areas of Nigeria.
Interestingly, there are laws that guide and protects potential investors in the process of acquisition of land devolution of real real property in Nigeria and they include;
1. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA 1999 CAP C23, LAWS OF THE FEDERATION OF NIGERIA (LFN) 2004 (as amended)
This recognizes and guaranties the right of every Nigerian to own and acquire real property/estate in any part of the country without discrimination or any form of unconstitutional requirements. Section 43 stipulates ‘
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria.’(This is talking about land. Any citizen of Nigeria can buy and own land anywhere in Nigeria except there is a law that says you can’t do so for one reason or another. {For instance, in Lagos State, you can’t own land if you are below 18 years of age.). This clearly suggest that all classes of persons across all ethic nationalities in Nigeria have the legal right and entitlement to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria.
2. THE LAND USE ACT 1978 CAP L5, NFN 2004
This primarily regulate land ownership in Nigeria. It enhances the principle of leasehold by which land in each state is vested in the governor of a state, to be held in trust for the benefit of every Nigeria within the state. This therefore means that right to own land in Nigeria may be Proprietary, Possessory or May relate to lesser interests. The recognized right over land in Nigeria includes:
(a) Right Of Occupancy; which refers to the right granted to a holder to occupy land for a period of up to 99 years as evidenced by a certificate of occupancy.
(b) Leasehold; which gives registered owners of land the liberty to assign the unexpired residue of their existing interest or grant a sub-leases for a limited number of years, leases are usually contractual.
(c) Easements ; which is also known as a right of way, is property which confers a non-possessory interest to use real property in the possession of another person for a stated purpose.
With the above laws stated, there are no legal restrictions whatsoever on the ownership of real estate by any particular class of persons(non-resident person) in Nigeria because the property laws are backed by the constitution which clearly state the right of all Nigerians to own immovable properties anywhere in Nigeria. It is therefore important to engage the service of a real estate agent/property lawyer to professionally transact, negotiate the legal aspect of real estate, to help review the documents as well and as well as the terms and conditions on the transfer of titles on your behalf to avoid falling prey to unnecessary expenses to rural community development authorities or association and to avoid such property being illegally sold amongst other problems.
ABIODUN
on said
Excellent
Ukpeto
on said
Wow
Bethel
on said
Enlightenment