The CFL Group of Companies, on Thursday, 8 October, 2026 gave the Lagos State Land Registry a seven-day ultimatum to rectify land documents allegedly falsified by speculators or face N5 billion law suit.
CFL warned that failure by the Land Registry to act within seven days would compel the affected landowners to approach the courts, where they would seek N5 billion in damages.
The Group Managing Director of CFL Group, Lai Omotola handed down the ultimatum while addressing a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, 8 October, 2026.
Omotola, who raised the alarm, through in an address titled ‘Public Alert on Land Title Laundry in Lagos State’, described the act as a sophisticated land fraud practice known as “Land Title Laundry” (LTL).
Speaking at the well-attended press conference, Omotola also alleged that the scheme involved the cloning and manipulation of land documents to create seemingly legitimate titles over valuable properties, particularly in highbrow areas such as Ikoyi and Victoria Island.
While stating that the land title forgery and cloning had persisted in Lagos over the years, with several banks allegedly falling victim to fraudulent Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) used as collateral for loans, Omotola added that some financial institutions only discovered that the documents were fake after the loans secured with the properties had gone into default.
To buttress his point, Omotola recalled that during the administration of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the Lagos State Government demolished a market opposite the Government House where, according to him, forged Certificates of Occupancy were allegedly produced.
He added that the practice had evolved into a more sophisticated operation because of the huge financial interests involved and the alleged participation of highly placed individuals both within and outside government.
According to him, the alleged “Land Title Laundry” scheme typically begins with the identification of abandoned properties in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, where land values are particularly high.
While also alleging alleging that speculators would identify the name of a prominent person who had died and use the person’s identity to establish a fictitious ownership history for the property, Omotola said they would then allegedly obtain forged land certificates, sometimes backdated to the 1970s when historical records were difficult to trace, before introducing the documents into the official land registry system.
“Once the document is ready, they have staff in Alausa working in Land Registry that will insert the documents into the system. Immediately this is achieved, the title document will automatically become the original,” the group MD said, just as he also alleged alleged perpetrators would subsequently declare the supposed original document lost, obtain a police affidavit and proceed to register a Governor’s Consent, thereby creating the impression that the property had been legitimately transferred.
While stating that that a Certificate of Occupancy was different from a Governor’s Consent, he stated that the distinction was important for property owners and prospective investors to understand.
Omotola added that a Lagos State Certificate of Occupancy involves the government allocating land and granting a title, while a Governor’s Consent represents the Governor’s approval of a transaction between individuals or entities.
According to him, the issuance of a Governor’s Consent did not automatically cure defects in the underlying title, adding that such consent could be cancelled if subsequent investigations established forgery or misrepresentation in the documents submitted.
Stating that the warning was informed by an experience involving his company and a property located at 24 Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Omotola said his company purchased the property and commenced construction before another company allegedly arrived with police officers and sealed the premises, claiming ownership based on a Governor’s Consent.
According to Omotola, the opposing party claimed that the original owner of the land was Samuel Oladele Ige, who allegedly sold it to the late Alhaji Ganiyu Amusan, father of businessman Tayo Amusan.
According to him, his company investigated the purported chain of ownership and visited the family of Samuel Ige, whom he identified as the younger brother of the late former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige, just as he also explained that the family informed them that Samuel Ige died in 2012, making it impossible for him to have sold the property in 2015.
“To our surprise the family informed us that their father died in year 2012 and there was no way he could sell the same land in year 2015 and their is nothing in their father’s will to suggest he owns a property at 24 Adeola Odeku street in Victoria Island. We also looked at Alhaji Ganiyu’s claims and found out that he died in 1994 and there was no way he could purchase a land in 2015. A further investigation shows Late Samuel Ige in the year 2015 swore to a police affidavit that he lost his original Land certificate. The affidavit as confirmed by the first son Niyi states that the picture on the affidavit is not that of his father and same with the signature. Also there is a letter of objection written by Late Samuel Ige before release of the Governor’s Consent was received by Land registry on the 1st of September 2015 when the author of same letter had died in year 2012,” he said.
He alleged that the beneficiaries failed to honour the invitation on two occasions and instead continued construction on the property while allegedly relying on security agencies.
Omotola, who said the affected landowners were demanding that the disputed consent be deregistered and the land documents corrected to reflect the legitimate ownership of the property, also insisted that the landowners were not beneficiaries of corruption within the system.
While stating that they were seeking protection for legitimately acquired properties and accountability in the administration of land records, Omotola called on the Lagos State Government to investigate the alleged manipulation of land documents and strengthen the land registry system to prevent fraudulent titles from being introduced into official record
