Excision of Land, Excision In Progress, And Gazette Document

Have you ever come across the terms excision of land, excision in progress, and gazette documents without knowing the difference between them?

Understanding these three terms is crucial, particularly if you’re considering purchasing a piece of land. You must comprehend and take these factors into account before making a land purchase. Let’s unravel the mystery behind these terms! 

What Is Excision of Land? 

According to the Land Use Act (1978), the government owns all land and may choose to release portions of it to previous owners with confirmed proof of ownership. Before the Land Use Act of 1978, traditional families and groups in Nigeria controlled the majority of the country's lands. The Land Use Act of 1978, however, gave Governors direct control over lands.

After the Land Use Act was put into effect, the process of land excision was used to compensate the original landowners.

In simple terms, excised land is a property that the government once possessed but now belongs to the people residing there. Excision of land denotes the legal release of a portion of land to indigenous settlers through a government gazette. 

It is a legal process by which governments release land to native landowners. After a piece of land has been excised, the land is no longer owned by the government, the recipients have full control over it and are free to use it however they see fit within the bounds of any local rules and regulations, and the Certificate of Occupancy procedure can be carried out

What Is Excision of Land In Progress? A piece of land must first be excised before it can be released to the indigenous people. Excision in progress is however the process of returning a piece of land that the government has acquired to its native owners. Simply put, excision in progress refers to the legal process of transferring land from the government to indigenous people for their use.

The steps to having your land excised

1. The application for land excision will be forwarded to the Land Use Allocation Committee (LUAC) assigned by your state for processing. The proposal would contain information on the population, purpose of the excised location, community’s historical development, and other vital information.

2. The letter will be forwarded to the LUAC Technical Committee for further processing within seven days of receipt.

3. Following that, the perimeter survey of the area to be excised will be given to the surveyor general. The surveyor-general will examine the charting and determine if the intended excision falls within the government attained area. If the intended excision falls within the government attained area, the proposal will be immediately withdrawn.

4. The area will be physically examined by the technical committee after getting approval from the surveyor general. The aim of this is to confirm the authenticity of the claims made in the application and to interview members of the community in order to acquire further information that will be essential in deciding whether the application is accepted or denied. This time-span of this is 14 days after the issuance of the Surveyor General’s report.

5. After checking the property, the technical company can decide if the intended use of the land is in line with the master plan for the area.

6. After that, the technical committee drafts a report and delivers it to the LUAC. This report contains all the information gathered from the land, the findings of the on-site inspection, and recommendations for whether the permit should be granted or cancelled.

7. The LUAC reviews all the document and information provided by the technical committee, reaches a conclusion and recommends a course of action to the governor, which may include granting or rejecting the excision request for relevant reasons.

8. Immediately after the governor's office receives the excision order, the surveyor general's office is notified, and within 30 days, a comprehensive perimeter survey of the selected region is completed.

9. Licensed Town planners, and other people interested in the land excision idea, will be commissioned to create a layout plan for the new section of land which will then be presented for approval to the state’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Economic Development

10. The individuals receiving the land must enter into an agreement with the government to take the land in full settlement on all prior claims on the land. Also, the grantees may agree to compensate the government for losses incurred as a result of encroachment and vandalism of land caused by relatives, and individuals outside the excised location.

11. Once the aforementioned requirements have been met, the technical committee publishes the land excision in the official gazette of the Lagos State Government.

12. The official gazette will be published by the technical committee in at least one widely read publication. The goal of the publication is to notify the general public of the land's status, the boundary of the excised land, and other significant information. The applicant is responsible for covering the cost of the newspaper advertisement.

13. Within 30 days of the official gazette's publication in newspapers, the government must give a certificate of occupancy on the excised land to the authorized members of the grantees.

14. After each of the aforementioned steps has been completed, all administrative files and records related to the excision are sent to the State's land bureau office. The excision, surveys, maps, titles, and gazettes are then properly entered into the records by the Registrar of Lands of the Excised Lands Agency.

WHAT IS  A GAZETTE DOCUMENT?

A Gazette document is a government journal that is used to keep track of how many lands belong to the community and how many the government has acquired. It can be characterized as a formal announcement made by the government announcing the excise of a specific parcel of land. The gazette contains a record of each excised parcel of land.

The communities that have received excision will be included in a Gazette along with the number of hectares the government has allotted to them. The gazette states the size, position and location of the lands. It also states the day, month, year, volume and the page which it was recorded.

A Gazette displays the precise location of the beacons indicating the beginning and end of both the community land and the newly acquired government land. 

Summarily, Excision refers to the transfer of land from the government to the native population. The official record to that effect is the Gazette.