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What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
Put every buyer's name on the deed of assignment and the registered title, with each share stated, and sign a separate written co-ownership agreement before paying that covers contributions, decisions, how a co-owner exits, what happens if one stops paying and what happens if one dies. A plot in one friend's name with a WhatsApp group as the only record leaves the others with no title at all.
Why groups get into trouble
Groups of friends, church members or colleagues in the UK often pool money for land in Nigeria. The trouble rarely starts at purchase. It starts five years later, when one wants to sell, another has stopped contributing, a third has died and their family asks what they owned. If only one name is on the title, the law sees one owner.
Step 1: all names on the title
The deed of assignment, and then the Governor's consent and registration, should name every co-owner. The Land Use Act prohibits alienating a statutory right of occupancy without the Governor's consent, so a later transfer of one person's share is itself a transaction that needs consent; plan for it.
Ask your lawyer two questions about the wording:
- Does it state each person's share (for example 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%), or does it simply list names?
- On a co-owner's death, does their share pass to their estate, or to the surviving owners? The wording decides this, and it should match what the group wants.
Some groups use a company instead, with shares in the company reflecting each contribution. That gives a cleaner way to transfer interests but adds filing and tax obligations; get advice first.
Step 2: the co-ownership agreement
This is a contract among the owners, separate from the title. A lawyer should draft it, and each person should sign before money moves.
- Contributions
- Who pays what, by when, and in what currency, including future costs (fencing, survey, consent, land use charge).
- Shares
- How shares are calculated, and how they change if someone pays more.
- Decisions
- Which decisions need everyone (selling, building, borrowing) and which a majority can make.
- Default
- What happens if someone misses a contribution: notice, a grace period, and then dilution or a buy-out at a set formula.
- Exit
- A right of first refusal for the others, a valuation method, and a deadline for completing a buy-out.
- Death
- Who deals with the deceased's share, and whether the others can buy it from the estate.
- Records
- One account, regular statements to everyone, and where original documents are kept.
Worked example (illustrative figures only)
Four friends buy a ₦40,000,000 plot. Ada pays ₦16,000,000, Bayo ₦12,000,000, Chidi ₦8,000,000 and Dami ₦4,000,000. Their shares are 40%, 30%, 20% and 10%. A year later the group spends ₦4,000,000 on fencing and consent, and Dami cannot pay his ₦400,000. If the agreement says unpaid contributions are covered by the others in proportion and shares adjusted, the total invested becomes ₦44,000,000 and Dami's share falls from 10% to ₦4,000,000 / ₦44,000,000, about 9.1%. Without that clause, the group argues.
Deaths and inheritance
If a co-owner dies, their family will usually need probate or letters of administration to deal with their share; see probate steps for Nigerian property. For UK Inheritance Tax, GOV.UK says that for deaths after 5 April 2025 someone counts as based abroad (taxable only on UK assets) if they lived in the UK for fewer than 10 of the previous 20 years; long-term UK residents are taxed on worldwide assets, including a share of Nigerian land.
Selling and tax
When the plot is sold, each UK-resident owner reports their own share of the gain; GOV.UK gives 2026-27 Capital Gains Tax rates of 18% and 24% with a £3,000 annual exempt amount. See UK CGT on selling Nigerian land. Couples face a related question; see whose name goes on the title.
Practical set-up for the group
- Pick one lawyer in the state of the land to act for the whole group, with a written engagement letter naming every member as a client.
- Open one account for contributions in the names of two or more members, or use the lawyer's client account, rather than one member's personal account.
- Agree who holds the original title documents (preferably the lawyer) and who may request them.
- Send a written statement of contributions and spending to every member each quarter.
- Review the agreement whenever someone joins, leaves or dies.
These steps are dull, and that is the point: they make the record speak for itself when memories differ years later.
Exits without a fight
Most groups eventually lose a member who needs cash. A clause giving the others first refusal at a value set by an independent estate surveyor, with a deadline of, say, 90 days to complete, avoids both a forced sale and an outsider joining the group. If no one buys, the agreement can allow the share to be sold to an outsider the others approve.
Where Pryme fits
Pooled purchases need clean records. Each member can pay their contribution from their own account through Send, converting pounds to naira with the rate and the fee shown first, and keep a verifiable statement of every contribution that anyone in the group can check is unaltered.
Questions people ask
Can several friends own one plot of land in Nigeria?
Yes. Put every name on the deed of assignment and registered title, with shares stated, and sign a co-ownership agreement covering contributions, exits and deaths.
What happens if one co-owner dies?
It depends on the title wording and the agreement. Usually their share passes to their estate, which needs probate or letters of administration to deal with it.
Do we need Governor's consent to sell one share?
A transfer of a share in land held under a statutory right of occupancy is an alienation that needs the Governor's consent under the Land Use Act. Plan for it in the agreement.
What if a member stops paying?
The agreement should set notice, a grace period and a formula for dilution or a buy-out. Without one, disputes are likely.
Sources
- Land Use Act, Cap L5 LFN 2004 (PLAC Laws of Nigeria) · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax when someone living outside the UK dies · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances · accessed Oct 2026
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