DEED OF ASSIGNMENT AS A MEANS OF TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY IN NIGERIA, ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

DEED OF ASSIGNMENT AS A MEANS OF TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY IN NIGERIA, ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1       Introduction

There can be no society without law (ubi societa ibi jus):- there are rules that are designed to guide behaviour and decisions of individuals either oral (tradition) or written such as constitution, parliamentary bills, legislative orders, executive ( executive ) orders court decisions etc, are intended to regulate and control human activities and or transactions.

Some contracts, covenants, agreements, appointments, conveyances are required in law to be by deeds (written form and formally).^[1][2]

A deed of assignment can be said to be a document or agreement in which an assignor (the transferor) promises to, from the date of assignment or any date provided in the document assign his ownership in that property to the assignee ( transferee). The deed of assignment stipulates the type of right that has been assigned and usually, in the case of the sale and purchase of immovable property, full rights are assigned. It also documents the flow of ownership from the owner to the buyer and subsequent purchasers, where applicable. So, if a property has changed hands, the deed of assignment in the hand  of the last owner would have a recital, usually on the last page which takes about history of the property changing hands from „A‟ to „B‟ up to the current owner^[3].

It therefore goes without saying that deed of assignment is a very important document which should be kept in a very safe and secure place because they are legal document and getting new copies, if they are lost or stolen can be painful and hard. Many people made many copies of title deeds in case of lost, damage or destruction so that they have temporary measure on ground. Because title deeds can be used to initiate the transfer of ownership, it is good to keep such deeds in safe places and location so that they cannot be stolen^[4].

1.2        Statement of the Problem

Over the years, there have been much reliance on customary land law regime, judicial precedents and legal instruments in making decisions on real property related issues without taking cognizance of the legal drafting and conveyancing techniques most needed in the design and construction of document involved (deeds of assignment) and other challenges created by statutes, particularly with the promulgation of the Land Use Act in 1978,^[5] and other related statutes with respect to real property transaction in Nigeria .

As a result of the much reliance placed on oral tradition and testimonies without compliance with the requirement of the statute both client and draftsmen do run into problems in the course of effecting transaction in land. Mere agreement of sale of land is never an instrument of transfer which most clients do not know.

DEED OF ASSIGNMENT AS A MEANS OF TRANSFER OF REAL PROPERTY IN NIGERIA, ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS