power of attorney
Power of Attorney is a signed legal document that lets you hand someone else the authority to act and sign on your behalf in specific matters.
In plain English
Your uncle in London calls you on a Tuesday evening, voice a little tired from the time difference, and says he needs land in Asaba registered before the price changes again. He cannot fly down. He cannot leave his shift at the hospital. So he asks you, his nephew running a small logistics business in Lagos, to go to a lawyer with him on a video call and sign something called a Power of Attorney so you can stand in for him at the land registry.
That document is the whole story right there. Power of Attorney is a written, signed paper that gives one person, called the agent or attorney, the legal right to act for another person, called the principal, in specific matters. It does not mean the agent now owns everything or can do whatever they like. It is more like a key cut for one door, not the whole building. Your uncle's Power of Attorney might cover only the land purchase, nothing else.
In business, this shows up more often than people expect. A founder travelling abroad for six months to raise capital might give her operations manager Power of Attorney to sign supplier contracts or open a business account while she is away. A Nigerian in Canada selling a family property in Enugu will usually need one drawn up and notarised so a sibling or lawyer back home can complete the sale legally.
It can be general, covering a wide range of decisions, or specific, covering just one transaction like collecting a cheque or signing a lease. Most Nigerian families use the specific kind, and lawyers usually recommend it because it limits what can go wrong.
The document expires or can be revoked, and it usually ends automatically if the principal dies, unless it was set up as an enduring or lasting Power of Attorney for health and welfare decisions, which is more common in places like the United Kingdom for ageing parents.
A woman in Manchester wants to sell her late father's plot in Ibadan. She signs a Power of Attorney at a Nigerian consulate, naming her brother in Lagos as agent. He uses it to complete the sale for ₦38,000,000 and transfers her share through her bank, without her ever boarding a flight.
Questions people ask
Does Power of Attorney let someone sell my property without telling me?
Only if the document specifically grants that power and you signed it knowingly. This is why lawyers always advise limiting it to exactly what you intend, and revoking it immediately once the task is done.
Can I give Power of Attorney to someone while I am living abroad?
Yes, this is very common for the diaspora. You can sign it at a Nigerian embassy or consulate, or have it notarised abroad and then authenticated for use in Nigeria, usually with a lawyer's guidance.
What happens to a Power of Attorney if the principal dies?
It ends immediately in most cases, because the authority was tied to that person's living instructions. Any enduring arrangement for health or welfare decisions works differently and should be set up separately with proper legal advice.
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