How to Inspect a Nigerian Property Before You Buy: The Complete Checklist

Why a Nigerian Property Inspection Is Different From What You Think

A property inspection in Nigeria is not just about looking at a building. It is a legal, physical, and community-level investigation that must happen before any payment, not after.

The Nigerian land market has no centralized, publicly accessible title registry you can query from a desk. The Land Use Act of 1978 vests all land in state governors, which means every title document you see is only as good as the state's issuance and the chain of assignments since then. A beautiful property with a forged Certificate of Occupancy will cost you everything.

I have seen plots in Mowe that sold for 500,000 naira in 2016 now command 4 million naira and above in 2026. That appreciation is real, but so is the risk. Buyers chasing those gains skip the inspection step. Do not be that buyer.

Section 1: Document Verification Before You Visit the Site

You verify documents first. Before you even drive to the property, request copies of every title document and run these checks:

• Ask for the original title document: Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), Governor's Consent, Deed of Assignment, or Registered Survey Plan. Accept no photocopies at this stage.
• Take the C of O or title number to the relevant State Lands Bureau (Alausa in Lagos, State Secretariat in Ibadan, Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta for Ogun) and request a search. A valid C of O will pull up on their records. A fake one will not.
• Check the name on the title against a government-issued ID of the person selling to you. Any mismatch requires a formal explanation and deed trail.
• If the title is a Deed of Assignment, trace it back to the root title. Ask: what is this assigned from? A Deed assigned from another Deed, assigned from another Deed, with no root C of O at the base, is a chain of air.
• For land in Ogun State along the Sagamu-Ore corridor, confirm whether the title is a C of O or an Excision. Excised land is not automatically titled. Ask specifically: has this excision been gazetted?
• Check for encumbrances. Ask the Lands Bureau if there is any mortgage, court order, or government acquisition registered against the property.

This pre-visit document check takes 2 to 5 working days and costs between 15,000 and 50,000 naira in official search fees depending on the state. It is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

Section 2: Physical Site Inspection Checklist

Go to the site yourself. Do not send a proxy, do not rely on photos, and do not visit only once. Visit twice: once during a dry period and once after rain if possible. Here is exactly what to check on-site for your pre-purchase inspection in Nigeria:

• Bring a copy of the survey plan and physically walk the beacon points. Confirm the beacons exist on the ground. If they have been removed or cannot be found, do not proceed until a registered surveyor replaces them.
• Check the land for flooding. Look for watermarks on trees, discolored patches of soil, or excessive green algae growth. Ask neighbors directly: does this land flood in July and August?
• Identify the drainage direction. Water must have somewhere to go. Land that sits in a bowl with no drainage outlet will collect water regardless of what the seller tells you.
• Look for high-tension cables overhead. NEPA and TCN easements under high-tension lines prohibit construction. Sellers in corridors like Ikorodu and Badagry sometimes list these plots without disclosing the restriction.
• Check for buried pipelines or NNPC right-of-way markers. This is especially relevant in Ogun State and parts of Lagos Mainland. Building on a pipeline easement is illegal and dangerous.
• Observe what is already built around the property. If neighbors have built successfully, the land likely has buildable soil. If the adjacent lots are all empty in a otherwise-developed area, ask why.
• Do a perimeter walk. Note the actual dimensions with a measuring tape against the survey plan figures. A plot sold as 648 square meters that physically measures 520 square meters is fraud, not a mistake.

If the land is agricultural, particularly in the Ogun-Oyo belt where an acre ranges from 500,000 to 2 million naira depending on road access, also test the soil. Bring a soil auger or hire an agronomist for one day. Waterlogged or laterite-heavy soil affects both farming and construction viability.

Section 3: Community and Government Status Checks

Nigeria's land ownership disputes are rarely only on paper. The community dimension is real and it will find you after you buy if you do not find it first.

• Identify the Baale or traditional ruler of the community where the land sits. Visit the palace. Ask directly: is this land in dispute? Is it family land that has not been properly consented by all heirs? Listen carefully to the answer and to the hesitation.
• Ask specifically about government acquisition. Lagos State has acquired large portions of land in Ibeju-Lekki, Epe, and Ikorodu over the years. The Lagos State Government acquisition gazette is publicly available. Cross-reference the land's location against acquisition lists.
• Check the local planning office. In Lagos, this is the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA). Ask whether the area has an approved layout and whether building permits can be issued for the specific plot.
• Confirm electricity supply status. Proximity to an EKEDC or IBEDC transformer is a real value driver. A plot 200 meters from a functional transformer is categorically different from one that needs 2 kilometers of line extension at the buyer's cost.
• For properties inside estates, request and read the estate's deed of restriction. Some estates in Lekki Phase 2 and parts of Ibadan's Bodija prohibit commercial use entirely. If your plan is a shortlet or office building, that restriction kills the investment.

The community check cannot be skipped. I have seen deals in Sagamu and Ikorodu collapse at the point of building because a family member who was not party to the original sale showed up with a court injunction. Paying 3 to 4 million naira for a plot and spending another 500,000 on litigation is not a real estate investment. It is a problem.

Section 4: Structural Inspection for Built Properties

If you are buying a building and not just land, the inspection list extends to the structure itself. This applies to everything: a completed house in Bodija priced at 25 million naira or a mid-range flat in Ikorodu at 12 million.

• Hire a registered structural engineer, not a builder, not an architect. Ask them specifically to assess the column and beam integrity, the roof structure, and the foundation type relative to the soil condition.
• Check every ceiling for water stains. Water stains are not cosmetic. They tell you the roof leaks, the waterproofing has failed, or there is a plumbing line above that is compromised.
• Turn on every tap simultaneously. Check water pressure. Ask how water is supplied: borehole, well, LAWMA tanker, or mains. A borehole property without a recent water test could be pulling from contaminated groundwater.
• Test every electrical outlet. Check the distribution board for proper labeling, earth bonding, and breaker sizes. An improperly wired building in Nigeria is a fire risk that no insurance policy in this market fully covers.
• Check the septic tank or sewage system. Ask when it was last emptied. A full septic tank costs 50,000 to 150,000 naira to service and signals years of deferred maintenance elsewhere in the property.
• Inspect window frames and door frames for rust or rot. Aluminum frames that have corroded through suggest the building is older or of lower quality than what is being represented.

A structural inspection by a qualified engineer costs between 30,000 and 100,000 naira for a residential property. The sellers who refuse to allow one are telling you something important.

Section 5: The Negotiation Intelligence This Inspection Gives You

Most buyers treat inspection as a binary pass-or-fail gate. That is a mistake. A thorough property inspection checklist in Nigeria is also your most powerful negotiation tool.

Every defect you document, every encumbrance you uncover, every infrastructure gap you measure gives you a legitimate basis to renegotiate the price. A plot with a drainage issue that will cost 800,000 naira to resolve should cost 800,000 naira less than a clean comparable plot. Sellers know this. Use it.

I have personally renegotiated deals downward by 15 to 30% using documented inspection findings. In one case in Ibadan, a structural engineer's report on a duplex identified foundation subsidence that reduced the agreed price by 4.5 million naira. The buyer's 80,000 naira inspection cost saved them millions.

Section 6: Red Flags That Should Stop the Deal Entirely

Not every issue is negotiable. Some findings mean you walk away, regardless of how attractive the price looks or how much pressure you are under to close.

• The seller cannot produce an original title document and offers only photocopies or an unsigned draft.
• The Lands Bureau search returns no record for the C of O number provided.
• The physical dimensions of the land do not match the survey plan by more than 5%.
• There is an active court case, caveat, or injunction registered against the property.
• The community Baale or any family elder denies knowledge of the sale or contests the seller's right to sell.
• The land falls within a gazetted government acquisition zone, regardless of what the seller claims about "approvals" or "releases."
• The seller applies extreme time pressure: "someone else is buying tomorrow" is a manipulation tactic, not a market condition, in the large majority of cases.

Walk away cleanly. A bad property at any price is a liability. There are over 28 million units of housing deficit in Nigeria and new sites are always available. Your capital is finite. Protect it.

Key takeaways

• Run a physical Lands Bureau search on the C of O number before visiting the site. This single step eliminates the majority of title fraud risks and costs under 50,000 naira.
• Visit the site twice and bring a measuring tape. Confirm the survey plan beacon points exist on the ground and that the physical dimensions match the document within a 5% margin.
• Visit the community Baale or traditional ruler and ask directly about ownership disputes and family land complications. This conversation costs you nothing and can save you millions.
• Hire a registered structural engineer (not a builder) for any built property. A 30,000 to 100,000 naira inspection fee has saved buyers 4 million naira and above in documented cases.
• Treat every defect and infrastructure gap you find as a negotiating point. A documented drainage issue, missing titles, or deferred maintenance should reduce the agreed price by the actual cost of resolution.