Commentary · 25 June 2026

Security that works on the day you need it

A legal mortgage that was never perfected, a debenture that was never registered, a guarantee signed by the wrong person — security fails for administrative reasons far more often than legal ones.

Oluwashina O. Olagbende · 4 min read

The position

Lenders and borrowers spend their negotiation on rate, tenor and covenants. Enforcement, when it comes, usually turns on whether the security was completed properly.

The failures repeat. A charge over land where the mortgagor's own title was never perfected, so consent to the mortgage cannot be obtained. A debenture not registered within time at the Corporate Affairs Commission, leaving priority in doubt. A corporate guarantee executed without a supporting board resolution. A share charge with no accompanying transfer instrument or register annotation.

None of this is exotic. It is a checklist, followed to the end, with the evidence of each step filed together rather than scattered across three inboxes.

We prepare and complete security documentation for lenders and borrowers, and we conduct reviews of existing facilities where a party wants to know, before a default, whether what they hold is enforceable.