LD/DN/2026/04 · Desk Note · 2026-07-22

Governor's Consent in Nasarawa: The Step Most Purchasers Skip

Of the five points where corridor transactions die, governor's consent is the one purchasers skip knowingly. The vendor says consent can be "perfected later"; the agent says everyone does it this way; the purchaser, having already stretched for the price, defers the cost. The deferral is rational only if the consent requirement is a formality. It is not.

What the Act says. Section 22 of the Land Use Act forbids the holder of a statutory right of occupancy from alienating it — by assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise — without the consent of the Governor first had and obtained. Section 26 declares transactions carried out in contravention void. Customary rights of occupancy carry a parallel regime requiring appropriate consent.

What the Supreme Court made of it. In Savannah Bank v. Ajilo, the Supreme Court held the consent requirement mandatory — a transaction without it passes no valid legal interest, however genuine the parties, however complete the payment. Later authority softened the edges in one respect: the courts distinguish the agreement to transfer (valid as a contract between the parties) from the transfer itself (inchoate without consent), so a purchaser is not necessarily without remedy against the vendor. But a contractual remedy against a vendor who may be unfindable or insolvent is a poor substitute for title against the world. Until consent is obtained and the instrument registered, the purchaser holds an equity, not the legal right — and equities lose races.

What "perfected later" actually costs. Every year of deferral is a year in which the vendor can deal with the land again, creditors of the vendor can levy against it, and the registry continues to speak the vendor's name to anyone who searches it. If the vendor dies, consent must be pursued through an estate. The purchaser's position weakens with time while feeling, day to day, entirely normal — the land is fenced, nothing visible is wrong. Consent defects are silent until they are total.

The pathway in Nasarawa. In practice the route runs through NAGIS and the Ministry: the executed deed, the application for consent, assessment and payment of the prescribed fees and charges, stamping, and registration. The desk maps this pathway for every published plot as Gate V6 of its protocol, before listing — because a price that ignores perfection costs is not a real price. What consent skipping does alongside the corridor's other killers is set out in the pillar note, Why Land Transactions Die in Nasarawa.

This note is general information, not legal advice on any specific transaction. Holding an unperfected deed, or about to accept one? The desk's written 48-hour document verdict will tell you where you actually stand.