SALE OF HOUSES BY REALTORS USING DEED OF SUB-LEASE: The Validity Of Transfer Of Title Using Deed Of Sub-Lease Over Properties Covered By A Single Certificate Of Occupancy

By Isimeme Andrew

Imagine living in big cities in Nigeria as a tenant? The
landlord’s rent trauma can be unbearable; always counting down the
time till the next rent. Most times, it appears that people work
for the landlord and to keep the roof over their heads no matter
how uncomfortable the roof may be. Of course, such persons may have
no other option than to keep saving monies to pay their rent.

At some point in your life as a starter in a big city, you’ve
either been served with a notice to quit, court summons or at the
least, a reminder to pay rent. For lawyers who practice in
Magistrate courts within those jurisdictions, the courts are almost
like rent tribunals. Those who are familiar with the court
proceedings will be sure to tell you that landlord/tenant disputes
dominate the court’s cause lists.

The struggle sometimes appears to be over when one acquires a
house, especially from realtors and in the form of estate houses.
However, little attention is often paid to the documents
transferring title from the said realtors to the individual housing
estate subscribers and in some cases, these transactions only
elevate their status to age-long tenants in their own houses,
temporarily granting peaceful possession over a long time while the
realtors retain the reversionary interest in the housing estate,
unknown to the subscriber.

At the moment, it is estimated that Nigeria’s housing deficit is
put at over 22Million.[1] With many
Nigerians homeless, owning a house will invariably deflate the
statistics of the housing deficit in Nigeria. Beyond solving the
issue of shelter, owning a home provides a security to the home
owner and with the asset, he can obtain facility to start a
business or invest in an income-yielding venture.

In practice, what is often experienced is that some groups of
persons or companies who are registered to carry on the business of
real estate; acquire landed property or enter into some sort of
arrangement with owners of land to build estates and ask interested
persons to subscribe. Usually, it starts with the interested
persons going to the realtor’s office to pick up an expression of
interest form, and a subsequent letter of offer/allocation of a
particular plot or houses to them. In most cases, they are required
to pay the purchase price of the property and in return, they are
handed over a ‘Deed of Sub-Lease’ to execute as
the title document transferring some number of years to the lessee.
The question that now arises therefore is the propriety of such
transfers using a Deed of Sub-Lease.

Who owns the land?

Land ownership in Nigeria is undoubtedly vested in the Governor
of each state who is to administer the land for the benefit of the
people. Land in this context includes both developed and
undeveloped land. Usually, the governor grants rights to occupy a
land to Nigerians or corporate bodies registered in Nigeria for a
particular period of time, normally 99years upon fulfillment of
some conditions.

The Land Use Act equally provides that the holder of a
Certificate of Occupancy can transfer or assign his interest in the
Certificate of Occupancy to a third party subject to the governor’s
consent[2], whether or not such transfer is a
total or partial transfer of interest, or legal or equitable
transfer.  An agreement transferring interest in land must be
written. This is why lawyers prepare transfer documents such as a
Deed of Assignment, Deed of Partition or Deed of Sub-lease, Deed of
Lease, Deed of Mortgage and so on, all transferring various
interests in land. Those captions are not as important as the
wordings of the transfer.

Can A Deed Of Lease/Sub Lease Transfer Title In
Land?

A lease is said to exist when one party gives or lets out his
property to another for use for a period, usually in consideration
of payment of rent. It is a contract for the exclusive possession
and profit of land for a definite period. ^[3] It is important to note that in lease
relationships, title to the land is not conveyed; only the use and
occupation of the property is conveyed by the lessor. This is so
because, in leasehold, possession reverts to the lessor after the
expiration of the term given.

More often, leases are either made orally or in writing or under
seal. In practise, lease above three years are required to be by
Deed, that is to say, it must be signed, sealed and delivered by
both parties so as to satisfy the legal requirement under the Land
Use Act, as well as to create legal interest over the property when
the governor’s consent is obtained and the Deed registered.

One of the major characteristics of a lease agreement is that
the property owner (Lessor) has the right to sell his property
whenever he chooses to do so. Where a property is subject of a
lease, the right of the lessee upon sale of the property depends on
the agreed terms of the lease.^[4] In
other words, the subsequent purchaser purchases the said property
subject to the leasehold.

Possessory interest in Lease as against Proprietary
interest in assignment:

The central focus in lease relationships is that the Lessor
conveys exclusive possession of the demised property and not the
proprietary interest. Put simply, what the lessor has transferred
in the property to the lessee is only the right to occupy the
premises exclusively. It means that the legal ownership of the
property still remains and belongs to the lessor. The exclusivity
of possession by the lessee can be terminated and extinguished once
another enters the land lawfully^[5].

Possessory rights exist or arise by virtue of the protection the
law accords to an actual physical occupant of land, even if it is
wrongful or adverse. The primary right which such physical
occupation confers is the right to exclude others. So, a possessor
can therefore exclude all those interfering with his possession
except the person with a better right to immediate
possession^[6]

On the other hand, the term “proprietary interest” is defined as
the interest held by a property owner together with all appurtenant
rights^[7] which explains why a
tenant or lessee cannot question the proprietary right of his
landlord^[8]. That is to say, a lessee
cannot challenge ownership of the lessor.

Also, a right of possession can be exercised or enforced by the
party in actual possession against the whole world except the true
owner.^[9]

Status of a Sublease:

Generally speaking, a sublease is a minor lease proceeding from
a major lease, in which the lessor of land grants part of the terms
which he holds to another. Where the lessor grants the entire
remainder, it will amount to assignment of the interest in the
property, in other words, it will technically amount to sale of the
property subject to legal requirements.

In essence, the right of the lessee is limited to the peaceful
and quiet possession of the land/property during the term of the
lease agreement. A landlord reserves the right to alienate or do
with his land whatever he desires regardless of a pending lease
agreement, except where such action interferes with the lessee’s
interest in the land.^[10]

Arguably, under the Land Use Act, Right of Occupancy has often
been viewed as a sui generic (class of its own) interest
in land, more appropriately called a statutory lease. This view
appears to have been supported by Nigerian courts as the Court of
Appeal in L.S.D.P.C vs. Foreign Finance Corporation[11]. In Osho vs. Foreign Finance
Corporation[12] the court held
that: “The right of occupancy is in nature a hybrid
between a licence and a lease… on terms and conditions which upon
breach by a right holder is subject to revocation by the
governor”

Therefore, though the Right of Occupancy under the Land Use Act
does not meet the common law requirement for a lease (that is
certainty of time, object, execution, etc.), it can be described as
a form of statutorily created lease peculiar to lands covered by
the Land Use Act. This is because, the framers of the Act, (as can
be deduced) clearly intended that the right contained in the Right
of Occupancy should be in the nature of a lease out of which lesser
interests could be created. However, in practise, given the
peculiarity of leasehold, a Deed of Lease has never been an
acceptable way of conveying the entire proprietary interest in land
regardless of the inference that the nature of grant in Right of
Occupancy by the governor appears to be leasehold. Interestingly,
the Nigerian courts have always interpreted a lease agreement to
only grant possessory interest of the property as against
proprietary right, which means that the lessor reserves the right
to convey his proprietary right to another buyer who can buy off
the proprietary right of the lessor leaving the lessee with only
the right of possession that will be extinguished at the expiration
of the years granted.

Is using Deed of Sublease by realtors to transfer
ownership of interest in estate houses a good
practice?

As has been amply demonstrated above, assignment of entire
interest in land cannot be achieved using a Deed of sublease. This
is because the reversionary interest[13]
in the land lies with the lessor once granted less one day. This is
equally the case in a sublease that has been described as a lease
under an existing lease.

Put simply, when the Deed of sublease (as currently used by real
estate companies) is used as a title document transferring an
interest in the land, at the expiration of the term granted in the
sub-lease or even while the leasehold is existing, the sub lessor
can validly assign or convey the remaining year or days in the
head-lease to another person subject to the leasehold already
granted to the lessee.

The above point can be demonstrated using two scenarios.
Scenario A; if Mr. A has a right
of occupancy of 99years over a plot of land in Bompai Kano State,
and he sub-lets 90years to Mrs. B, Mr. A reserves
the proprietary right over the property while Mrs. B retains the
possessory right. At the expiration of the 90years granted to Mrs.
B, the reversionary right of the 9years reverses to Mr. A and he
can assign or covey the remaining 9years to another person subject
to statutory compliance. Scenario B, using the same property and
parties, while Mr. A has sub-let 90years to Mrs. B, Mr. A can
proceed in the same year to assign the remaining 9years to Mr C
subject to the 90years sub-lease granted to Mrs. B. What it then
means is that Mr. C will have to wait for the expiration of the
90years already granted to Mrs. B before he can take possession of
the property.

The point being made is that; where the transfer of interest in
land is done by way of a lease or a sublease as the case may be;
the lessor or sub lessor will usually retain the reversionary
interest in the property. In other words, whatever interest that
has been transferred reverts to the lessor upon expiration of the
lease.

It must be pointed out here that the case may be different where
the lessor or sub-lessor sublets the entire remaining years, also
referred to as unexpired residue, to the lessee or sub-lessee, in
which case his reversionary right has been extinguished once the
governor consents to such transfer. What it then means is that the
governor can deal directly with the sub-lessee over the Right of
Occupancy granted to the lessor over such property. However, the
difficulty with this kind of practise usually lies with the
uncertainty of the remaining years. If the years granted to the
lessee is less, then the reversionary right is retained by the
lessor, where it is more, we would argue that such grant over the
remaining years in the certificate of occupancy is voidable on the
doctrine of “Nemo dat quot non-habet” meaning granting what the
lessor never had.

What is then the proper practice of conveying interest
in estate covered by a certificate of occupancy?

Understandably, realtors face the difficulty in determining the
appropriate mode of conveying interest of houses or apartments
purchased by individuals in real estate houses given that the land
upon which the estate houses are built is often covered by a single
certificate of occupancy. Ordinarily, preference would be given to
both parties executing a Deed of assignment, but where an estate is
built, using a single certificate of occupancy may present some
technical legal challenges. However, the creative way to ensure
that the interests of all the subscribers to the estate houses are
protected is to do either of the following:

• Prepare a separate Deed of assignment for each
  building/purchaser together with As-Built Survey Plan
  (ABSP) and then obtain the consent of the governor and
  register the deed alongside with the ABSP at the Lands Registry.
  Alternatively, prepare a separate Deed of
  partition for each building together with As-Built
  Survey Plan (ABSP), obtain the consent of the governor and
  register the deed alongside with the ABSP at the Lands Registry.
  The documents should be accompanied with:

i. A letter of authorization to register either the Deed of
assignment and/or Deed of partition signed by the holder(s) of the
certificate of occupancy.

ii. A valid means of identification (either national ID card,
international passport, voter’s card, driver’s licence) of the
holder of the certificate of occupancy.

iii. In the case of a company, the means of identification of
the directors, certified true copy of CAC form7, certificate of
incorporation, and company’s resolution authorizing the assignment
and registration of the property.

Both Deeds (either assignment or partition) are acceptable for
registration showing that interest over that particular portion
purchased by the purchaser has been transferred. The certificate of
occupancy will be provided for sighting in the course of the
registration.

Conclusion

To succeed in a land dispute, a person in possession of title
documents executed in his name will more often than not get
judgement in his favour. We will rest our argument on decided cases
where the courts have over and again emphasized that one of the
modes of proving ownership of land in Nigeria, is the production of
properly executed title documents to the land which is now the most
authentic mode of proving title to land[14],
as against a deed of lease/sublease, a deed of assignment is a more
reliable means to prove title in land.

We understand the position of the Land Use Act, particularly
section 22 which makes the Governor/FCT minister a head-lessor over
lands within their territory, however, the Conveyancing Act as
applicable in Federal Capital Territory recognises and allows an
assignment by way of Deed of Assignment.

[1] https://thenationonlineng.net/housing-deficit-now-22-million-says-fmbn/^[1]

[2] Section 34(2) of the Land Use Act 1978.

[3] Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v London Residuary
Body (1992) 2 AC 286

[4] Registered Trustees of Master’s Vessel
Ministries (Nig) Incorporated v. Emenike & Ors (2017)
LPELR-42836(CA)

[5] Olukoya v Ashiru (2006) ALL FWLR part 322,
p.1479 at 1514

[6] ANENE & ORS v. OKOYE (2013) LPELR-21877(CA)

[7] ENUN v. EKPO(2012) LPELR-19703(CA)

[8]AJIE & ORS v. AHUNANYA & ORS (2000)
LPELR-10062(CA)

[9] Farajoye v. Hassan (2006) 16 NWLR (Pt. 1006) Pp.
499 para. G

[10]REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF MASTER’S VESSEL
MINISTRIES (NIG) INCORPORATED v. EMENIKE & ORS (2017)
LPELR-42836(CA)

[11] (1987) 1.N.W.L.R. (pt50) 413 at
444.

[12] (1991) 4. N.W.L.R. (pt184) 157
at197

[13] Reversionary interest is the interest
that a person has in a property when a preceding estate ceases to
exist Reversionary interest in the context of real property or
wills and estates means a reservation created in a real property
conveyance that the property will revert back to the original owner
upon the happening of a certain event.

[14] BAZAMFARE & ANOR v. ADAMU & ANOR
(2017) LPELR-CA/J/245/2016, IBETO v. NWANOSIKE & ORS

(2013) LPELR-CA/PH/128/99

By Isimeme Andrew

Imagine living in big cities in Nigeria as a tenant? The
landlord’s rent trauma can be unbearable; always counting down the
time till the next rent. Most times, it appears that people work
for the landlord and to keep the roof over their heads no matter
how uncomfortable the roof may be. Of course, such persons may have
no other option than to keep saving monies to pay their rent.

At some point in your life as a starter in a big city, you’ve
either been served with a notice to quit, court summons or at the
least, a reminder to pay rent. For lawyers who practice in
Magistrate courts within those jurisdictions, the courts are almost
like rent tribunals. Those who are familiar with the court
proceedings will be sure to tell you that landlord/tenant disputes
dominate the court’s cause lists.

The struggle sometimes appears to be over when one acquires a
house, especially from realtors and in the form of estate houses.
However, little attention is often paid to the documents
transferring title from the said realtors to the individual housing
estate subscribers and in some cases, these transactions only
elevate their status to age-long tenants in their own houses,
temporarily granting peaceful possession over a long time while the
realtors retain the reversionary interest in the housing estate,
unknown to the subscriber.

At the moment, it is estimated that Nigeria’s housing deficit is
put at over 22Million.[1] With many
Nigerians homeless, owning a house will invariably deflate the
statistics of the housing deficit in Nigeria. Beyond solving the
issue of shelter, owning a home provides a security to the home
owner and with the asset, he can obtain facility to start a
business or invest in an income-yielding venture.

In practice, what is often experienced is that some groups of
persons or companies who are registered to carry on the business of
real estate; acquire landed property or enter into some sort of
arrangement with owners of land to build estates and ask interested
persons to subscribe. Usually, it starts with the interested
persons going to the realtor’s office to pick up an expression of
interest form, and a subsequent letter of offer/allocation of a
particular plot or houses to them. In most cases, they are required
to pay the purchase price of the property and in return, they are
handed over a ‘Deed of Sub-Lease’ to execute as
the title document transferring some number of years to the lessee.
The question that now arises therefore is the propriety of such
transfers using a Deed of Sub-Lease.

Who owns the land?

Land ownership in Nigeria is undoubtedly vested in the Governor
of each state who is to administer the land for the benefit of the
people. Land in this context includes both developed and
undeveloped land. Usually, the governor grants rights to occupy a
land to Nigerians or corporate bodies registered in Nigeria for a
particular period of time, normally 99years upon fulfillment of
some conditions.

The Land Use Act equally provides that the holder of a
Certificate of Occupancy can transfer or assign his interest in the
Certificate of Occupancy to a third party subject to the governor’s
consent[2], whether or not such transfer is
a total or partial transfer of interest, or legal or equitable
transfer.  An agreement transferring interest in land must be
written. This is why lawyers prepare transfer documents such as a
Deed of Assignment, Deed of Partition or Deed of Sub-lease, Deed of
Lease, Deed of Mortgage and so on, all transferring various
interests in land. Those captions are not as important as the
wordings of the transfer.

Can A Deed Of Lease/Sub Lease Transfer Title In
Land?

A lease is said to exist when one party gives or lets out his
property to another for use for a period, usually in consideration
of payment of rent. It is a contract for the exclusive possession
and profit of land for a definite period. ^[3] It is important to note that in lease
relationships, title to the land is not conveyed; only the use and
occupation of the property is conveyed by the lessor. This is so
because, in leasehold, possession reverts to the lessor after the
expiration of the term given.

More often, leases are either made orally or in writing or under
seal. In practise, lease above three years are required to be by
Deed, that is to say, it must be signed, sealed and delivered by
both parties so as to satisfy the legal requirement under the Land
Use Act, as well as to create legal interest over the property when
the governor’s consent is obtained and the Deed registered.

One of the major characteristics of a lease agreement is that
the property owner (Lessor) has the right to sell his property
whenever he chooses to do so. Where a property is subject of a
lease, the right of the lessee upon sale of the property depends on
the agreed terms of the lease.^[4] In
other words, the subsequent purchaser purchases the said property
subject to the leasehold.

Possessory interest in Lease as against Proprietary
interest in assignment:

The central focus in lease relationships is that the Lessor
conveys exclusive possession of the demised property and not the
proprietary interest. Put simply, what the lessor has transferred
in the property to the lessee is only the right to occupy the
premises exclusively. It means that the legal ownership of the
property still remains and belongs to the lessor. The exclusivity
of possession by the lessee can be terminated and extinguished once
another enters the land lawfully^[5].

Possessory rights exist or arise by virtue of the protection the
law accords to an actual physical occupant of land, even if it is
wrongful or adverse. The primary right which such physical
occupation confers is the right to exclude others. So, a possessor
can therefore exclude all those interfering with his possession
except the person with a better right to immediate
possession^[6]

On the other hand, the term “proprietary interest” is defined as
the interest held by a property owner together with all appurtenant
rights^[7] which explains why a tenant or
lessee cannot question the proprietary right of his landlord^[8]. That is to say, a lessee cannot
challenge ownership of the lessor.

Also, a right of possession can be exercised or enforced by the
party in actual possession against the whole world except the true
owner.^[9]

Status of a Sublease:

Generally speaking, a sublease is a minor lease proceeding from
a major lease, in which the lessor of land grants part of the terms
which he holds to another. Where the lessor grants the entire
remainder, it will amount to assignment of the interest in the
property, in other words, it will technically amount to sale of the
property subject to legal requirements.

In essence, the right of the lessee is limited to the peaceful
and quiet possession of the land/property during the term of the
lease agreement. A landlord reserves the right to alienate or do
with his land whatever he desires regardless of a pending lease
agreement, except where such action interferes with the lessee’s
interest in the land.^[10]

Arguably, under the Land Use Act, Right of Occupancy has often
been viewed as a sui generic (class of its own) interest
in land, more appropriately called a statutory lease. This view
appears to have been supported by Nigerian courts as the Court of
Appeal in L.S.D.P.C vs. Foreign Finance Corporation[11]. In Osho vs. Foreign Finance
Corporation[12] the court held
that: “The right of occupancy is in nature a hybrid
between a licence and a lease… on terms and conditions which upon
breach by a right holder is subject to revocation by the
governor”

Therefore, though the Right of Occupancy under the Land Use Act
does not meet the common law requirement for a lease (that is
certainty of time, object, execution, etc.), it can be described as
a form of statutorily created lease peculiar to lands covered by
the Land Use Act. This is because, the framers of the Act, (as can
be deduced) clearly intended that the right contained in the Right
of Occupancy should be in the nature of a lease out of which lesser
interests could be created. However, in practise, given the
peculiarity of leasehold, a Deed of Lease has never been an
acceptable way of conveying the entire proprietary interest in land
regardless of the inference that the nature of grant in Right of
Occupancy by the governor appears to be leasehold. Interestingly,
the Nigerian courts have always interpreted a lease agreement to
only grant possessory interest of the property as against
proprietary right, which means that the lessor reserves the right
to convey his proprietary right to another buyer who can buy off
the proprietary right of the lessor leaving the lessee with only
the right of possession that will be extinguished at the expiration
of the years granted.

Is using Deed of Sublease by realtors to transfer
ownership of interest in estate houses a good
practice?

As has been amply demonstrated above, assignment of entire
interest in land cannot be achieved using a Deed of sublease. This
is because the reversionary interest[13]
in the land lies with the lessor once granted less one day. This is
equally the case in a sublease that has been described as a lease
under an existing lease.

Put simply, when the Deed of sublease (as currently used by real
estate companies) is used as a title document transferring an
interest in the land, at the expiration of the term granted in the
sub-lease or even while the leasehold is existing, the sub lessor
can validly assign or convey the remaining year or days in the
head-lease to another person subject to the leasehold already
granted to the lessee.

The above point can be demonstrated using two scenarios.
Scenario A; if Mr. A has a right
of occupancy of 99years over a plot of land in Bompai Kano State,
and he sub-lets 90years to Mrs. B, Mr. A reserves
the proprietary right over the property while Mrs. B retains the
possessory right. At the expiration of the 90years granted to Mrs.
B, the reversionary right of the 9years reverses to Mr. A and he
can assign or covey the remaining 9years to another person subject
to statutory compliance. Scenario B, using the same property and
parties, while Mr. A has sub-let 90years to Mrs. B, Mr. A can
proceed in the same year to assign the remaining 9years to Mr C
subject to the 90years sub-lease granted to Mrs. B. What it then
means is that Mr. C will have to wait for the expiration of the
90years already granted to Mrs. B before he can take possession of
the property.

The point being made is that; where the transfer of interest in
land is done by way of a lease or a sublease as the case may be;
the lessor or sub lessor will usually retain the reversionary
interest in the property. In other words, whatever interest that
has been transferred reverts to the lessor upon expiration of the
lease.

It must be pointed out here that the case may be different where
the lessor or sub-lessor sublets the entire remaining years, also
referred to as unexpired residue, to the lessee or sub-lessee, in
which case his reversionary right has been extinguished once the
governor consents to such transfer. What it then means is that the
governor can deal directly with the sub-lessee over the Right of
Occupancy granted to the lessor over such property. However, the
difficulty with this kind of practise usually lies with the
uncertainty of the remaining years. If the years granted to the
lessee is less, then the reversionary right is retained by the
lessor, where it is more, we would argue that such grant over the
remaining years in the certificate of occupancy is voidable on the
doctrine of “Nemo dat quot non-habet” meaning granting what the
lessor never had.

What is then the proper practice of conveying interest
in estate covered by a certificate of occupancy?

Understandably, realtors face the difficulty in determining the
appropriate mode of conveying interest of houses or apartments
purchased by individuals in real estate houses given that the land
upon which the estate houses are built is often covered by a single
certificate of occupancy. Ordinarily, preference would be given to
both parties executing a Deed of assignment, but where an estate is
built, using a single certificate of occupancy may present some
technical legal challenges. However, the creative way to ensure
that the interests of all the subscribers to the estate houses are
protected is to do either of the following:

• Prepare a separate Deed of assignment for each
  building/purchaser together with As-Built Survey Plan
  (ABSP) and then obtain the consent of the governor and
  register the deed alongside with the ABSP at the Lands Registry.
  Alternatively, prepare a separate Deed of
  partition for each building together with As-Built
  Survey Plan (ABSP), obtain the consent of the governor and
  register the deed alongside with the ABSP at the Lands Registry.
  The documents should be accompanied with:

i. A letter of authorization to register either the Deed of
assignment and/or Deed of partition signed by the holder(s) of the
certificate of occupancy.

ii. A valid means of identification (either national ID card,
international passport, voter’s card, driver’s licence) of the
holder of the certificate of occupancy.

iii. In the case of a company, the means of identification of
the directors, certified true copy of CAC form7, certificate of
incorporation, and company’s resolution authorizing the assignment
and registration of the property.

Both Deeds (either assignment or partition) are acceptable for
registration showing that interest over that particular portion
purchased by the purchaser has been transferred. The certificate of
occupancy will be provided for sighting in the course of the
registration.

Conclusion

To succeed in a land dispute, a person in possession of title
documents executed in his name will more often than not get
judgement in his favour. We will rest our argument on decided cases
where the courts have over and again emphasized that one of the
modes of proving ownership of land in Nigeria, is the production of
properly executed title documents to the land which is now the most
authentic mode of proving title to land[14],
as against a deed of lease/sublease, a deed of assignment is a more
reliable means to prove title in land.

We understand the position of the Land Use Act, particularly
section 22 which makes the Governor/FCT minister a head-lessor over
lands within their territory, however, the Conveyancing Act as
applicable in Federal Capital Territory recognises and allows an
assignment by way of Deed of Assignment.

[1] https://thenationonlineng.net/housing-deficit-now-22-million-says-fmbn/^[1]

[2] Section 34(2) of the Land Use Act 1978.

[3] Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v London
Residuary Body (1992) 2 AC 286

[4] Registered Trustees of Master’s Vessel
Ministries (Nig) Incorporated v. Emenike & Ors (2017)
LPELR-42836(CA)

[5] Olukoya v Ashiru (2006) ALL FWLR part 322,
p.1479 at 1514

[6] ANENE & ORS v. OKOYE (2013)
LPELR-21877(CA)

[7] ENUN v. EKPO(2012) LPELR-19703(CA)

[8]AJIE & ORS v. AHUNANYA & ORS (2000)
LPELR-10062(CA)

[9] Farajoye v. Hassan (2006) 16 NWLR (Pt.
1006) Pp. 499 para. G

[10]REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF MASTER’S VESSEL
MINISTRIES (NIG) INCORPORATED v. EMENIKE & ORS (2017)
LPELR-42836(CA)

[11] (1987) 1.N.W.L.R. (pt50) 413 at 444.

[12] (1991) 4. N.W.L.R. (pt184) 157 at197

[13] Reversionary interest is the interest that
a person has in a property when a preceding estate ceases to exist
Reversionary interest in the context of real property or wills and
estates means a reservation created in a real property conveyance
that the property will revert back to the original owner upon the
happening of a certain event.

[14] BAZAMFARE & ANOR v. ADAMU & ANOR (2017)
LPELR-CA/J/245/2016, IBETO v. NWANOSIKE & ORS

(2013) LPELR-CA/PH/128/99