A plain Lagos guide: survey, excision, C of O, Governor’s Consent, and the payments you should never send first.
Excerpt
Ibeju-Lekki is not the problem. Paying before the paper is the problem. Here is the order that keeps your deposit.
Ibeju-Lekki still has room to grow — airport, free trade zone, coastal road. That is why the corridor is loud. It is also why fake C of Os, cloned surveys and “promo ends tonight” plots move fast.
The rule is simple: the title must be named before money moves.
1. Know what they are actually selling you
In Lagos, “title” is not one paper. Ask which of these it is — in writing.
- Survey plan — the map of that plot, by a licensed surveyor. Without it you are buying a story.
- Excision / gazette — for community land in Ibeju-Lekki this is not optional. If the land was never excised from government acquisition, a pretty deed will not save you.
- Deed of Assignment — the transfer paper. It is only as strong as the root title behind it.
- Governor’s Consent — required when C of O land changes hands. No consent, no finished transfer.
- C of O — strongest individual title. Global C of O on a proper estate is also serious. Family receipt is not.
If the seller says “excision is coming” or “we will perfect after you pay,” walk.
2. Do the search before the deposit
Three checks. Not one.
- Surveyor-General charting — does this survey sit on committed / acquired land, or overlap another plot?
- Lands Bureau / registry search — who is on the file, is there a court caveat, is the C of O number real?
- Gazette check — for village or community land, confirm the excision exists and the coordinates fall inside it.
3. Inspect the ground, not the flyer
Go. Or send someone you pay, not someone the seller pays.
Stand on the plot. Check access road, flooding, beacons, who is living left and right. If they refuse a site visit until you “secure it with 300k,” that is not a plot. That is a funnel.
4. How the money should move
- Company account. Not “pay my POS girl.” Not a personal GTBank because “the company account is down.”
- Receipt + allocation letter that names plot number, size, estate, title type.
- Deposit only after search + inspection. Balance on a written plan.
- Keep every transfer slip. If they hate paperwork, they hate accountability.
Lagos land prices in this corridor swing wildly by title and access — a cheap advert is often a different product from a documented plot. Compare total cost (survey, legal, development levy), not the flyer figure.
5. Red flags that should end the chat
- “Last two plots, pay tonight.”
- No office you can walk into.
- Price far below everything else on that same road.
- Seller will not let a lawyer or surveyor touch the file.
- Double allocation stories (“the first buyer defaulted”).
- You are told not to visit the Lands Bureau “so we don’t delay.”
What Bisbol will put on the listing
We name the title on the page: survey, gazette, Consent, C of O or building approval. We do not sell “we will perfect it later.” Inspection videos go to clients abroad. Allocation follows the written deposit — from the Lekki office, Block D3, Suite 431, HFP Abraham Adesanya.
WhatsApp 0806 955 1189 if you want a plot checked before you send a kobo.
Join The Discussion