29 April, 2025
Azeez Folorunso
Justice Onyidamola Ogala has fixed June 10 for preliminary objection in a land dispute between Madam Efunroya Tinubu Estate & Works Limited and Lagos State Government over the ownership of the large parcel of land across the state linked to Efunroye Tinubu Estate.
Justice Ogala said that the preliminary objection raised by the claimants should be served to other parties in the suit and proof of service must be in the court file before the next adjournment date.
In the suit, Efunroye Investment are challenging Lagos state government agencies including the Attorney General of the Lagos State, Commissioner for Physical Planning, Permanent Secretary, the Lagos state Property, Development Cooperation, LSPDC and other enforcement agencies for their failure to perfect documents for the ownership of the said land.
The claimants are contesting government’s action restricting transactions on the disputed land, which is officially registered as No. 45 on Page 45 in Vol. 2212 of the Lagos State Land Registry.
They argue that the state’s “No Transaction, No Certified True Copy” directive placed on the title is an unlawful reversal of the estate’s recognised ownership, without due process.
According to the suit, “the land ownership was affirmed in 1912 by the Federal Supreme Court of Nigeria, and further validated through historical legal documents, including a 1954 Petition of Right.”
The claimants insist that suspending operations on the estate’s title without due notice or hearing violates their constitutional rights.
The claimants seek court declarations that: “The government’s restriction on transactions involving the land is unlawful and should be lifted; The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) and other agencies have no right to mark buildings for demolition on the estate without due process; The invitation of estate beneficiaries for questioning by government agencies is an attempt to review past court judgements and should be stopped; Any directive by the Attorney General or law enforcement agencies to confiscate property from estate beneficiaries should be declared illegal.”
Also, the claimants are asking for a court order preventing state agencies from interfering with land ownership and stopping any ongoing prosecutions related to the dispute.
