Proceedures and step in registration of Deeds of Assignment or Conveyance
REGISTRATION OF DEEDS OF ASSIGNMENT OR CONVEYANCE
Background Information
Land may be acquired in Nigeria through any of the following means:

1. Family land under customary law, by allotment or apportionment: see Supreme Court decision in Sadikwu v. Dalori (1995) 5 N. W.L.R (pt. 504) p.122
2. Allocation of state lanmd by the governor
3. By gift inter vivos. See Supreme Court decision in Imah V Okogbe (1993) 2 S.C.N.J.57
4. By purchase from a person holding land by virtue of 1 - 3 above
5. By inheritance from a person holding land by virtue of 1 - 3 above
   

When all the interest comprised in land is acquired by purchase, the transaction is referred to as an assignment of interest in land (i.e. the seller, called "the assignor" assigns his interest in the particular land to the purchaser called "the assignee"), or' conveyance of title in land (i.e. the seller conveys his title in a particular land to the seller. Where a sale of land transaction is evidenced in written under deed, then document is known as Deed of Assignment.

Where however the purchaser does not acquire all the interests comprised in the land, so that the purchaser's interest will expire at a time earlier than the expiration of the seller's interest in the land, the transaction is known as a lease or sub-lease (the latter being the appropriate term if the seller holds his interest by way of a lease). The document comprising such a transaction is either a Deed of Lease or a Deed of Sub-lease

Deeds of Assignments and Deeds of Lease or Deeds of Sub-lease are all referred to as Deeds of Conveyance to the extent that they transfer the legal estate in land from the seller to the purchaser.

Where however the transaction does not operate to transfer the legal estate, i.e. it is not comprised in a Deed of Conveyance, the document in which the transaction is comprised is known as an Agreement to Sell Land

By sections 2 and 8(2) of Land Instruments (Preparation and Registration) Law Cap 100, Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004 (LIPRL), a Deed of Assignment or Deed of Conveyance or an Agreement to Sell are a registrable instruments, and registrable in the Lands Registry, Enugu, Enugu State.

All land ownership transactions should be registered in the Deeds Registry. This is to ensure that the State Government at every point in time has accurate records of title status of all lands within its jurisdiction as well as to serve as reference point for members of the public who may be interested in knowing about the existenceof any rights over land in the State.


Also registration of the title documents has a number of advantages. These include:

• Only title documents registered in the Deeds/ Lands Registry can be tendered in Court, in proof of title
• Registration confers priority among persons who may have competing claims over the same land

General Requirements

• The applicant is to purchase and fill an Application Form from any of the designated Banks
• The Deed of Assignment or Conveyance in 5 parts duly executed by the parties to the transaction
• Current 3 years' tax clearance receipts of the applicant or 111 the case of a corporate body, that of two of the directors
• An affidavit by the applicant, or in the case of a corporate body, a Director or the Secretary, verifying the information stated in the Application form
• Affidavit of attestation sworn to by every person who signed as a witness to the transaction

Application and Registration Procedure
The following steps are taken in sucessfull allocation of plots

1. Title applicant obtains an Application Formand returns the completed Application Form to the Lands Department together with the following support documents
   • 5 copies of Deed of Assignment executed by the parties; Current Tax Clearance Certificate of the assignee
   • An affidavit by the applicant, or in the case of a corporate body, a Director or the Secretary, verifying the information stated in the Application Form
   • Affidavit of attestation sworn to by every person who signed as a witness to the transaction
2. The Commissioner forwards the Application form together with other support documents to the Permanent Secretary who forwards to the Director of Lands to process the application
3. The Director of Lands instructs the Schedule Land Officer responsible for the area in question to open a file, assign a file number to it and forward the file to the Principal Valuation Officer to value the property
4. This is done by a Land Officer II who attaches a sketch plan of the property and submits to the Principal Valuation Officer
5. The Principal Valuation Officer reviews the inspection and valuation report. If there are no errors in computation and the report, the Principal Valuation Officer signs the report and sends the file back to the Schedule Land Officer.
6. The Schedule Land Officer notifies the applicant of fees to be paid and the designated Banks where the relevant payments are to be made. A copy of the schedule of fees is submitted to the Head of Accounts and/or Sub-Treasurer
7. When the applicant makes the payments at the designated Banks, he submits copies of the Bank tellers at the Sub-treasury and the Accounts Department
8. The Sub-treasury office confirms payments by checking the Bank tellers against the bank manifests. If the payment details are in the manifest, a receipt is issued to the applicant. However, where there is no evidence of payment in the manifest, the applicant is advised to rectify payments before a receipt can be issued. The Director of Lands should be informed of such situations.
9. The applicant submits a copy of the receipts to the Schedule Land Officer, who attaches the receipts to the file and sends the file to the Director of Lands requesting for approval
10. The Director of Lands checks the application to ensure all the necessary information have been provided before making his comments, and forwards the file to the Permanent Secretary, requesting for the Commissioner's approval
11. The Permanent Secretary reviews the whole process and sends the file to the Commissioner for approval if the transaction is in line with laid down procedures
12. The Commissioner signs the approval and forwards the file to the Permanent Secretary who sends the file back to the Director of Lands
13. The Director of Lands instructs the Schedule Land Officer to arrange for the stamping and registration and also notify the applicant of the date to come and collect the registered Title document.
14. The Schedule Land Officer submits the file to the Registrar of Deeds for stamping and registration
15. The Registrar of Deeds registers the document
16. The applicant signs and collects the registered title document
    
    

Fees Payable
The fees that the applicant will be required to pay In this transaction include the following:

1. Consent/ registration fee
2. Stamp duty
3. Ground rent arrears
4. Inspection / preparation fee
5. Computer fee
6. 10% penalty incase of defaults.