PROPERTY TRANSACTION IN NIGERIA; LEASES

We shall be discussing a specific property transaction in Nigeria which does not transfer title in land from one person to the other and which is not the day to day tenancy agreement that is common. This is no other form of property transaction than lease.

A leasehold relationship exist between two or more parties where one party gives out or let his property to another to use for a period and usually, though not always, in consideration of payment of rent. This is a contract for exclusive possession and profit of land for some definite period.

The property reverts back to the owner at the expiration of the term; a consideration is usually paid by the party who want to lease the property to the owner. 

A leasehold agreement is different from rent, any agreement beyond three years is not rent but lease, there are some features that distinguish leasehold agreement from other forms of property transactions and it is only where these are present that a lease agreement is said to be valid.

There must be a demise property for exclusive use and possession, there must be a consideration it is mostly done by payment of rent but not necessarily paid by user of the property, the parties must/may enter into specific terms to relate these transaction, this is often referred to as covenants’, the relationship between both parties is for a fixed period of time and there is a right of reversion of the property to the owner.

I will advise that there must be a written agreement between both parties but that does not mean parties cannot do otherwise (parol) this will enable them set out terms agreed to by parties .it will make it   ascertainable and enforceable against the defaulting party.

Where the lease agreement is beyond three years it is required to be under seal,in such a case it must be signed, sealed and delivered. This is in line with the requirement of all conveyances in land or property transactions in Nigeria, anything that falls short of these shall be void. We help in drafting lease agreements and comply with the basic requirement of law to have a valid agreement and look out for covenants’ (a promise by the parties in which either of them pledges himself to the other that something is either done or to be done) in the best interest of our clients, consult us for these and all property transactions in Nigeria.

The law went ahead to make provision for what constitute a valid lease and there must be definite understanding in respect of the following matters.

There must be parties to the lease agreement,they must have capacity to contract the lease agreement.

A property must be involved, that is it must be properly described i.e. address, size and so on.

A valid agreement without ambiguities, word of demise, rent payable, duration and commencement and expiration date must be spelt out, a certain beginning and a certain end.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL

MALICIOUS PROSECUTION ; REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO VICTIMS

A nollywood actress,Yetunde Akilapa was accused of stealing ,arrested and detained at Alade Police Station in Somolu ,Lagos State, Nigeria. She said in an interview that she was wrongly accused of this offense by a friend who set her up and that she is innocent of the offense.

This takes us to the provision of the law in these regard, which protect the interest of person(s) wrongly or maliciously prosecuted or detained.

Malicious prosecution is an action brought against one person or group of persons by another knowing well that the person is innocent of the allegations leveled against him/her. This can be in both civil and criminal action.

For anyone to be guilty of malicious prosecution certain things must be present, an intention, this means the complainant intend to accuse an innocent person by instituting and pursuing a legal action against him/her, the action must be brought without probable cause and the action must be dismissed in favor of the accused, where all these can be proved the complainant shall be guilty of malicious prosecution.

In the case of ADFUNMILAYO V. ODUNTAN 1958 WRNLR 31, the defendant reported to the police that certain goods were stolen from his house and that he suspected the plaintiff of the theft. In consequence of this, the plaintiff was arrested and detained for one day. The plaintiff brought an action against the defendant claiming damages for false imprisonment because she was found not guilty of these allegation. These were awarded to her because it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that the allegation was false.

Also in BALOGUN V AMUBIKAHU 1989 3NWLR PT 107 the parties in this suit were parties in a land suit, the appellant lodge a report at the police station that the respondent hired a woman to kill him. The woman was alleging to have entered into the appellant’s house and stolen some clothes, and a transistor radio. The police arrested the woman and after her arrest made a statement to the police that it was the respondent that sent her on a mission to kill the appellant.

After a joint trial the woman confessed that the appellant tutored her into saying that the respondent hired her to hill the appellant. The respondent was discharged and she instituted an action against the appellant for malicious prosecution. The action succeeded and he was awarded damages.

It is important to have it at the back of your mind that where the process of search was initiated out of malice or bad faith, the person who initiates the process may be held liable and damages shall be awarded to you.

It has become a norm in our society; influential people set the law in motion against the weak by maliciously using relevant authorities against the weak, know that there is remedy for this, where such person is found guilty you won’t only get the person dealt with but damages shall be awarded to you.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN NIGERIA; ROBBERY

An undergraduate of sociology, Benue State University, Benue Nigeria Jacob Alongo was arraigned before Makurdi High court, he was charged on two counts charge of conspiracy and robbery.

Jacob conspired with two others to rob Mr. Stephen Akuma of his Toyota Camry and he was said to have robbed other people at gun point. He was also alleged for robbing not less than fifteen

RAPE BY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

Mr Sanni Idowu a 48 years old man was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate court, Iyaganku , Ibadan, Oyo- State Nigeria over an allegedly raping his daughter who is 15 years old.

The offense of rape contravene the provision of section 357 and 358 of the criminal code ,cap 38 vol ii Law of Oyo-State 2000.

The accused pleaded not guilty of the offense unlawfully having canal knowledge of the girl.

The case was adjourned till December 9, 2013.

Before next adjourned date, Let us discuss the implication of this ungodly and unlawful attitude of the accused in this matter around the world. If you have been following our write ups on this blog ,you would have had basic knowledge of rape and penalty prescribed for it in Nigeria.

Rape is highly condemned world over.

In Saudi Arabia for instance in a decided case between the government and Fayhan Al-Ghamdi (a preacher on Saudi channels) Fayhan was found guilty of having sexual intercourse with his 5 years old daughter. He was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment and should be given 800 (eight hundred) lashes for the offense.

Unites kingdom: Liam James was arraigned on a 10 counts charge of sexual assault and rape against his daughter, he was convicted for 16 years imprisonment. It was also reported that assaulting one’s child in Liam’s family has become a norm because his father has been charged for assaulting his family members in the past.

Australia: An accused shall be convicted and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment or more, it is at the court’s discretion.

I am sure we have all seen that it is unlawful to have canal knowledge of one’s child, cousin, sister with or without their consent, the right we have as father does not extend to having canal knowledge.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB (hons)BL

DEPORTATION IN NIGERIA

We have heard cases of Nigerians being deported back to Nigeria on several occasions and it is no longer news ,the Nigerians have been deported for several reasons ranging from drug offenses ,breach of immigration laws of different countries to mention a few.

The question now is that has Nigeria as a country ever deports any one? YES Vaswani brothers among others were deported from Nigeria, Vaswani brothers are the three Indian brothers and owners of Stallion Group, they were deported during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo for tax evasion, unfortunately but luckily for them they were pardoned by the Late Umar Yardua and the three men were permitted to come back to Nigeria.

Deportation according to section 402 of the Criminal Procedure Act this means that in case of a citizen of Nigeria ,deportation from the place where the offense took place or proceeding which culminated in the recommendation for deportation where heard to any other place in Nigeria and in case of a person not a citizen of Nigeria to a place outside Nigeria.

A non citizen may be asked to leave Nigeria in lieu of deportation order.

The court will recommend deportation where a person convicted of an offense punishable by imprisonment without the option of fine, the court may in addition to or instead of any other punishment recommend to the president that he be deported, if it appears to the court that it will be in the interest of peace, order and good government, where he violate the immigration law of the country i.e. visa expiration, where the offender is in default of security for peace i.e. where the conduct is likely to produce or excite to a breach of peace, in case of dangerous conduct deportation may be recommended i.e. where he is endeavoring or has endeavored  to excite enmity between any section of the people of Nigeria and federal republic.

Note that where a person to be deported is sentenced to any term of imprisonment such sentence of imprisonment shall be served before the order of deportation is carried into effect.

The courts recommend deportation to the minister that he be deported which will also be forwarded to the president for recommendation together with a report settling out the reason why the court considers it necessary to make the recommendation and certified copy of any proceeding relating thereto.

The president then makes order for deportation.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL

BURDEN OF PROOF

The former Aston villa and Ghana International footballer, Odartey Lampley filed a divorce in the Ghana court against his wife of over twenty years after he discovered the children the embattled wife claimed he fathered are not his.

The embattled wife agreed that the children are not his biological children but he was the one who conspired and consented with her to have artificial insemination when he discovered he could not father a child.

Before we go further Artificial Insemination is used to treat infertility which involves direct insertion of semen into a woman’s womb. Note that an infertile man’s semen cannot be used for this purpose.

This takes us to burden of proof  that ‘he who asserts must prove’ section 135 of the Evidence act states that whoever desire any court to give judgment as to any legal right or liability dependent on the existence of fact which he assert, must prove beyond reasonable doubt.

In this regard the burden of proof lies on the embattled wife by proving that truly the husband was infertile and the process adopted in having the children are through artificial insemination and not through sexual intercourse and that the man consented to it, the burden lies on her to prove because she would fail if no evidence at all were given on either side because ground of adultery  is a sufficient ground for divorce and what become of her if the husband’s prayer is granted when he truly consented to it...

Also burden of proving that anybody has been guilty of any crime or wrongful act lies on the person who asserts; in this case the man will have to prove his innocence of the crime, proving beyond reasonable ground that the allegation leveled against him by his wife is false and that he did not at anytime have knowledge of this act of hers nor consented to it, this will be proved by medical examination that he is not infertile.

One of the options available to the woman is that you cannot aid and abet a person to do a thing and later turn ones back against that person, if Odartey Lampey is found guilty of these allegation not only will he be responsible for the well being of the children in question but will face legal charges .

Lesson learnt the law will not protect anyone’s interest where he/she conspired with another to commit an illegal act. This is why adoption of children is advised where one cannot father/conceive a child. READ our topic Adoption in Nigeria for further information on adoption process.

We help families in the adoption process in Nigeria, do you know that couples who have children of their own can also adopt, this one of the ways of touching lives.

We shall update you and review the decision of the court when judgment is made.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons) BL