Recovery Of Premises In Tenancy Matter Viz-A-Viz The Rights Of Both Parties And The Aftermath For Non-Compliance With Rules By Gobir Habeeb Bolaji

In our contemporary world of today, people move from one place
to another in search of greener pasture. As a result, the need to
leave their original homes to a completely strange abode becomes
inevitable. This transitional movement, however, has brought with
it, the need to let accommodation to people either for residence,
Business or other purpose. This, invariably gave birth to a
landlord and tenant relationship and accompanied with it is the
need to regulate this relationship within the scope of the law.

Under the administration of justice in Nigeria, the right of
both the landlord and tenant are guaranteed and well recognised
under the relevant applicable laws on Tenancy matter. Regrettably,
however, on many occasions, people do abuse this rights at the
detriment of others. In our conventional court in Nigeria, there
are record numbers of decided cases on tenancy matter bordering
mostly on wrongful use of statutory rights by both parties. Many a
times, people view and make use of their right outside the purview
of what is generally accepted by the law and thereby trampled on
the right of others.

Some landlord, who as a matter of law, is entitle to recovery of
possession of premises from a defaulting tenant often lose this
right due to their inadvertence towards the requisite requirements
under the enabling laws on tenancy matters. Conversely, the right
of the tenant to be served with a quit notice is now a subject of
abuse by some tenant who place an heavy reliance on this right.
Ignorantly, they erroneously believe, that their entitlement to
quit notice before eviction operate without limitations. All the
right and privilege of both parties in tenancy matters operate with
limitation and failure to take cognizance of this limitation often
rendered either or both parties to be at the receiving end. This
article however aim to analyse and examine the position of the law
in relation to landlord right of recovery of premises, the duration
and effect of quit notice, and the possible aftermath for
non-compliance with the rules.

*THE RIGHTS OF BOTH PARTIES AND THEIR
LIMITATIONS*

Before we go further, it’s imperative to state at this juncture,
that the applicable laws on tenancy matters in Nigeria are *two
(2)* and their applicability depend so much on the circumstances
and the states involved. These two laws are:

1. *THE TENANCY LAW 2011*

2. *RECOVERY OF PREMISES ACT*

As pointed out earlier, the applicability of these laws depend
on the circumstances and the state involved. Some states adopt
these two laws, and the one to be applicable in a given situation
depend on whether the premises involved is a residential or
non-residential premises. While for other state, they only adopt
only one, and it regulate the two situations. Similarly, It’s
imperative to note that, these laws were enacted principally to
provide for procedures a landlord must adopt to recover possession
of premises. A landlord who wish to secure back his premises from a
tenant must adhere strictly with the procedure. Any form of
deviation from same is fatal to the case. They are condition
precedent that need to be complied with. These requirements will be
discussed below.

As a matter of law, one of the duly recognised and important
right of a landlord in tenancy matter is right of recovery of
premises from a tenant. However, In doing this, the right of the
tenant to quit notice must be take into consideration. It therefore
follows that, a landlord who seek to recover possession of his
premises is under a duty to issue a notice to quit to the tenant.
It’s imperative to note that, a notice to quit is *ONLY* necessary
for the determination of a tenancy, where the tenancy has not been
determined.

The duration of a notice to quit will usually depend on the
agreement between the parties. However, in the absence of any
agreement to that effect, the period of notice will be determined
by the law regulating tenancy matter. Under the Tenancy Law, 2011,
the duration of a quit notice depend largely on the duration of the
tenancy agreement between the parties. Section 13 of Tenancy
provide thus:

” __where there is no stipulation as to the notice to be
given by either party to determine the tenancy, the following shall
apply-_

(a) _a week’s notice_ _for a tenant at will;_
( _b) one (1) month’s_ _notice for a monthly tenant;_
(c) _three (3) months_ _notice for a quarterly tenant;_
( _d) three (3) months notice for a half-_ __yearly tenant;
and_
_(e) six months notice for a yearly tenant_ ”

The above are the duration for a quit notice in the absence of
any agreement by the parties. It should however be noted here that,
at the expiration of a quit notice, a landlord will be entitle to
recover back his premises. See the case of *COBRA LTD & ORS. V.
OMOLE ESTATES AND INVESTMENT LTD. (2000) LPELR-CA/L/270/96* where
the court held that:

” _It is settled that once a valid notice to quit has been
served the tenancy is automatically determined at the expiration of
the notice.”_

However, in a situation where a tenant neglect or refuse to
vacate or give up possession of the premises after the expiration
of a valid quit notice, all the landlord need to do is to serve the
tenant a notice of intention to proceed to recover possession on a
date not less than 7 days from the date of service of such notice.
In calculating the 7 days, the day of service must be excluded but
the day of expiry must be included.

Similarly, it should be noted that, Service of a notice to quit
is not always a condition precedent for recovery of premises. A
notice to quit is ONLY necessary for the determination of a
tenancy, where the tenancy has not been determined. There are some
instances or circumstances where quit notice will not be needed
before a landlord can recover his premises. This will be discussed
below.

*WHERE NOTICE TO QUIT CAN BE DISPENSE WITH*

As pointed out earlier that, a landlord who seek to recover his
premises from a tenant must issue a quit notice. This rule however
operate with exception. There are instances where a tenant can be
denied his/her right to quit notice. They are in two ways and both
will be discussed below.

The first instance is a situation where the tenancy is
determined by effluxion of time, the landlord need not to serve
quit notice to the tenant. A tenancy is determined by the effluxion
of time where the period for which rent was paid has elapsed. For
instance, where Mr A. rents a duplex from Mr. B for one year; from
1st January, 2018 to 31st December, 2018. At the expiration of the
said one year, the tenancy is determined. Hence, from 1st January,
2019, the tenancy is deemed expired/determined and the landlord
need not to serve any quit notice. All that is needed to do is for
the landlord to serve the tenant a 7 days notice to recover
possession of premises.

This position was affirmed by the court in the case, of *Odutola
V. Papersack Nig. Ltd. (2006) 18 NWLR (Pt 1012) 470 SC* where the
court held that:

” _From the moment a year’s rent became due and payable by the
Respondent but remained unpaid, the yearly tenancy, if any, created
by the conduct of the parties thereto came to an end by effluxion
of time and the Respondent thereby became a tenant at will of the
1st Appellant by continuing in possession of the property.”_

The second instance is where a tenant terminate the tenancy
agreement by issuing a notice of termination of tenancy. This often
arise where the tenant is not satisfied with the premises or an
urgent need to change location arise.

*CONCLUSION*

Landlord and tenant relationship is an area of law in Nigeria
that had sparkled up a lot of controversy in our conventional
court. On many occasions, parties in tenancy matters often jump the
wagon while exercising their individual right in tenancy
relationship. Some landlord while exercising their right of
recovery of possession often neglect the requisite requirements of
the law. Rather than following the due process, they will throw
caution to the wind and engage with their tenant in a show of shame
in a bid to remove the tenant from the premises. Similarly, there
are too much of heavy reliance on quit notice by some tenants who
believe that, they can’t be chase out of their premises without a
quit notice even where their tenancy agreement had been determine
by effluxion of time. Commendably, our laws as of today In Nigeria,
had to a large extent regulates landlord and tenant relationship
with the enactment of laws that define the rights and limitations
of both parties in tenancy relationship.

*Gobir Habeeb Bolaji is a 400level law student
from Usman Danfodiyo university, Sokoto. He can be reach via*
G-Mail: [email protected]^[1]
Num: 08108527278