Foreign participation in Nigeria's real estate sector is governed by constitutional and statutory provisions designed to protect foreign direct investment while maintaining sovereign land administration.
All land in every Nigerian state is vested in the State Governor in trust for the people. Freehold tenure does not exist in the conventional British sense; ownership takes the form of a 99-year statutory Right of Occupancy or long-term registerable leasehold.
Under Section 22 of the Land Use Act, any alienation, assignment, mortgage, or transfer of interest in land requires the written consent of the State Governor to be legally enforceable against third parties.
Individual states have Acquisition of Land by Aliens Laws which regulate the term and extent of land a non-Nigerian individual may hold directly. Utilizing an incorporated Nigerian company mitigates these individual limitations.
Key transactional costs include Stamp Duties, Land Registry filing fees, Capital Gains Tax (CGT), and Governor's Consent fees. Ongoing obligations include State Land Use Charges and municipal tenement rates.