The Lagos State Land Registration Law 2015: Needs, Principles, Provisions and Potentials

Abstract

The enactment of the Land Registration Law 2015 by Lagos State is a bold attempt to provide a uniform platform for land registration in the state, considering the previous history of a fragmented and far from complementary land registration system. Despite the centrality of Lagos State to the economic development of the nation, the state had been buffeted with uncoordinated approach to land registration with different ideologies and consequences. This paper elicits the contents of the law through a textual review and in the light of its stated objective to promote ease of access of Lagosians to land. It commends such novel provisions that involve automation of the registration process sitting the law perfectly in the technological age of its enactment. It finds that the law has a great potential to smoothen the rough edges of land administration if properly implemented, drawing attention to the need to checkmate unscrupulous practices by land Registry personnel. Accordingly it concludes that it is ‘not yet uhuru.’