Land acquisition is one of the common Property Law transaction in Nigeria. A prospective purchaser of any property must involve an expert who has the requisite knowledge and skills in the area of property acquisition.
Thus, it is very important and mandatory to have a lawyer who is grounded in property law and practice before embarking on any form of land transaction, documentation and registration at the land registry. This is because a lawyer would ensure you do not run into legal huddles and troubles with land documents after purchase and also by virtue of our enabling laws, only a legal practitioner is allowed to prepare legal instruments involved in the conveyance process of proving title to land.
It is instructive to note that only a legal practitioner is entitled to prepare instruments relating to land. Such as Deed of Transfer, Lease, Assignment, Legal Mortgage, etc. The name and address of the legal practitioner must be stated on the instrument and it must bear the stamp and seal of the legal practitioner in accordance with *Rules 10 of the Rules of Professional Misconduct for legal practitioners, 2007. This is because where an instrument relating to an immovable property does not contain the particulars of the lawyer who prepared it, such document should not be acceptable for registration at the land registry.
It is the sole responsibility of a lawyer to do the following on behalf of his client; a) Investigate the title sought to be transferred or registered, advising on the viability of the title to the property, preparation of a formal contract that encapsulates the agreement, payment of stamp duties, fees and other taxes, preparing and execution of the deed, registration of the instruction, obtaining the consent of relevant authorities, etc. Any of these processes, if not being done by a lawyer may render the entire documentation and registration voidable when challenged.
More importantly, section 22 (1)(d) of the Legal Practitioners Act, provides that if any person other than a legal practitioner prepare for or in expectation of a reward any instrument relating to immovable property,……, such a person shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine…..or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both fine and imprisonment.
Consequently, it would not be a defence that the document sought to be registered was prepared without a fee or the registration itself attracts no reward. Therefore, any attempt to permit a person other than a legal practitioner to prepare legal documents and registration would amount to an infraction against our enabling laws.
Dr. S.O. Gavin Daudu is the Legal Adviser of the Nigerian Bar Association Benin Branch-the Lion Bar.
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