HOW TO PROVE LEGAL OWNERSHIP OF YOUR LAND, IN NIGERIA
Many times, whether you want it or not, you may find yourself in the unenviable
position of having to prove that you are the true owner of your property. In the
case of a small concern or major dispute, there are only a few legally acceptable
ways to prove to the court and to the world that you are the owner of your
property. What are these ways of proving ownership? Let us learn from the
Supreme Court matter of Agboola v. United Bank for Africa Plc. & 2 Ors. (2011) 4
CLRN 33.
Madam Ayinke went to the High Court asking the court to declare that
the auction sale of the house was illegal, null and void and to set it
aside.
Madam Ayinke, following the advice of her brother, Mr. Durosinmi, bought and paid for a
piece of land from one Alhaji Sule Tahiru. The land was situated at Sadiku Road,
Kulende, Ilorin, Kwara State. The sale was witnessed by her brother. Upon the
purchase of the land. Madam Ayinke left the documents of the property in the custody
of her brother and proceeded to erect a two-storey building of thirty rooms, renting it out
to tenants.
Years later, she learnt, through one of the tenants that United Bank of Africa (UBA) had
sold the property by auction to someone else. When she investigated the matter, she
found out that her brother, Mr. Durosinmi, with whom she had left the documents, had
mortgaged the property to the bank as collateral without her knowledge.
When she confronted her brother, he apologized, begged for forgiveness and explained
that he mortgaged the house to the bank when he had financial difficulty. He gave her
the assurance that he would redeem the mortgaged security and the house would not
be sold.
Madam Ayinke went to the High Court asking the court to declare that the auction sale
of the house was illegal, null and void and to set it aside. She also asked the court to
grant her damages and injunction against the bank and its agents. The High Court
Judge granted her desires.
The bank maintained that its position as a legal mortgage, claiming that it had the right
to sell the property by auction. Thus, it appealed to the Court of Appeal. The court of
Appeal granted the desires of the bank on the ground that Madam Ayinke had failed to
prove her true legal ownership of the property in dispute. Thoroughly dissatisfied with
the decision of the Court of Appeal, Madam Ayinke appealed to the Supreme Court.
During the pendency of the case, Mr. Durosinmi died. After some time, Madam Ayinke
also died and her kinswoman, Mrs. Agboola took up the matter in court. The major
question before the Supreme Court was whether Madam Ayinke had proved her title to
the property at Kulende Road, Ilorin. Delivering the lead judgment of the court, Aloma
Mariam Mukhtar, JSC listed out the legally acceptable ways of proving title or ownership
to land thus:
1.
By traditional evidence (such as calling witnesses to trace the devolution of the
land from the original or ancestral owner);
2.
By production of documents of title (such as a Certificate of Occupancy issued by
the necessary State Government);
3.
By proving acts of ownership numerous and positive enough to warrant an
inference that the person is the true owner (such as selling, renting out or farming
on all or part of the land);
4.
By proving acts of long possession and enjoyment of the land under; or
5.
By proof of possession of connected or adjacent land.
The court posited that for a person to prove his ownership or title to land, he must do so
through one or more of these five means.
The Supreme Court found that Madam Ayinke had not proven ownership of the land
because she could not produce any title documents. The receipt of purchase of the land
that she collected from the vendor, Alhaji Tahiru, did not contain her same as the
purchaser. In the same way, none of the receipts that she gave to her tenants upon
payment of rent also contained her name. In addition, she did not call Alhaji Tahiru as
one of her witnesses to testify that she bought the land from him. On its part, the bank
produced a Deed of Conveyance signed by Mr. Durosinmi and Alhaji Tahiru assigning
the property to Mr. Durosinmi (Madam Ayinke’s brother). The court held that the “ways
under which the appellant (Madam Ayinke) predicated her claim for title have definitely
not been established, and so her claim to the ownership of the property has not been
proved”.
Having discovered the legally acceptable ways of proving your legal ownership of your
property, it is in your best interest to regularize whatever means you may want to adopt
in the time of dispute or issues, should they arise.
Called from The Castle Magazine of Dec. 22- 31, 2013.