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

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 owner2.

1 www.jsor.org/pass.accessed on 10th February 2014; Section( 77) of Property Conveyancing law cap. 100 Laws of Western Region of Nigeria 1959.

2 www.Wisequeek.com/what is title deed. htm accessed on 10th February, 2014; see also Dadem Y.Y., Property Law Practice in Nigeria; University of Jos Press Limited,(2012) 2nd ed., page 78

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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 stolen3.

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 1978,4 and other related

statutes with respect to real property transaction in Nigeria .