Do you want to buy land in Nigeria? Are you willing to sell your land in Nigeria? We are here to give you some good information about the Excision of land in Nigeria.
Overview of Excision of land in Nigeria
The state carries out excision of land in Nigeria through the Ministry of Lands. However, the minister may delegate authority over land matters either to an existing department or to a newly created one. So the minister has the power to grant, call for papers, and cancel the registration of any land matter.
Read: Where to buy cheap land in Lagos
What is Excision of land?
In land excision, state governments release land to indigenous peoples or settlers following legal protocols and processes. Since the Land Use Act was enacted, land excision has been used as a method for compensating the original landowners. A grantee who excises a piece of land maintains ownership and control of the land within the confines of local laws and regulations.
Example of Excision of land
Real estate development companies X and real estate development company Y both have two plots of land to sell in the same location. However, Company X land is selling for 5 Million Naira while Company Y’s price is 7.5 Million Naira. Clients notice this, and because of the price difference, they rush to purchase Company X land. Two years later, Company X tells its clients that the state government has started the process of excising the land and they expect each person to pay 3 million Naira to complete the process. Several complaints are being made. Clients of Company Y, however, are free to build on that land without any harm, having already had the land excised.
Read: Why investors might pick a virtual land over Banana Island
Why Excised land can be expensive
The excision process is very time-consuming and costly. Then, when a landowner and seller go through that process, he would determine the cost of a piece of land by adding up all the expenses incurred.
Furthermore, Nigerian law gives state governors control of their lands. Historically, however, Nigerian lands were administered by communities and traditional families before the Land Use Act of 1978. Since the Land Use Act went into effect, land has become under the exclusive jurisdiction of state governors, who may also give former landowners with documented ownership rights access to their properties.
How to process excision
To get excision on a property can be a good thing but is tedious and comes with rigorous processes. They include:
- Excision application at your state land-use allocation committee. Each state has its own committee. Here you state the reason for Excision, population, and other required information.
- Further processing by any other committee set up in your state like the technical committee, etc.
- Submission of perimeter survey to the surveyor-general and review of charting information
- The technical committee conducts a site inspection on the land, making sure that everything is in correspondence with what is on the excision application letter.
- The technical committee making sure that the master plan complies with the land plan use.
- The technical committee compiling a report to your state land-use allocation committee based on their findings of the land.
- Your state land-use allocation committee reviews the material sent in by the technical committee and then compiles a final report and sends it to your state governor showing approval or rejection
- Upon approval and receipt by the state governor, the surveyor-general is contacted and a survey is done on the land
- A layout design plan is drawn on the land by local planners, families, and people involved and be sent to the state ministry of physical planning and economic development
- Then proceed for indemnity agreement Excision where the guarantees agree with the government to take the land in complete. They also make an unconditional settlement to the previous claims of the land before the agreement.
- Publishing the excision in your state official gazette by the technical committee
- Publication in any official commonly circulated newspaper
- Issuance of certificate of occupancy to the guarantees within 30days after publication in the newspaper
- The State’s land bureau office receives final documents, excision reports, and administrative files. The Registrar of Lands would then enter officially into the archives’ excisions, surveys, maps, names, and gazettes in the Excised Lands Agency.
Read: 4 key points in the new Lagos 2020 Land Use Charge
Things you need to know about Excised land in Nigeria
The various things you need to know about Excised lands are:
- It is expensive to purchase
- Gives you full control of the land within the confinement of state and local rules.
- Has gone through lawfully approved processes.
- Eliminates any future fear of losing the land
- Reduces complaints and commotion by giving the owner peace of mind
- Has no long-term challenges.
Things you need to know about non excised land
Before purchasing a land, verify to know if they have excised it and if not, these are the things you need to know:
- It is cheaper to buy
- Has many long terms challenges and troubles
- Oftentimes, the future outcome might be too much to bear
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Conclusion
Lots of people are not aware of the meaning of Excisions of lands in Nigeria. Here is why you need to know more about it. It is an extremely capital-intensive process, which is why, after excising the land, the family that processed it sells the land at a high price in order to recoup their costs. It’s worth remembering that, if you decide to buy a non-excised over an excised land because it’s “cheaper,” they will still require you to pay some amount for the excising process.
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