INTRODUCTION
If you are Nigerian, you probably have had your fair share of land disputes. The sheer number of buildings tagged with warning messages such as “This land is not for sale, beware of 419” is a testament on how easy land disputes arise, hence the need to give off a warning.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have to prove that you are the owner of the land in question especially in the absence of a title deed or relevant documentation, then this article is for you.
How can you prove title or ownership to land?
Before I go into the main gist, of proving land ownership in Nigeria, I would like to take a little break to talk about the type of interests you can hold on land.
There are two types of interest in land
- Legal interest. This is the highest form of interest, it is in the form of having perfected land documents i.e. certificate of occupancy. In the case where there are multiple interests in land, the person with a legal interest is seen by law as having a better claim to the land.
- Equitable interest: in this case the interest is borne out of the understanding that for some reason or another, people can acquire land with imperfect documents. The law in a bid to be fair would recognize the right of these people but under the condition that it would always fail if someone has a legal interest on the same piece of land.
There are five ways of proving title to land. These are:
- Traditional evidence.
- Production of documents of title.
- Proof of acts of ownership extending over a sufficient length of time, numerous and positive enough as to warrant the inference that the persons exercising such acts are the true owners of the land.
- Acts of long possession and enjoyment of the land.
- By proof of possession of adjacent land in dispute in such circumstances which render it probable that the owner of the adjacent land is the owner of the land in dispute.
Example
Let us paint a scenario. A man buys a house for his second wife without giving her the title documents. She lives in the property for years and then decides to start renting out the property. She had rented the house to quite a few tenants and in all her years of renting the house, no one challenged her right to rent out the house. However, her husband dies and Suddenly the first son of the first wife decides to claims to the property. If the woman resists, can she succeed in a claim that she is the owner of the property?
The simple answer is maybe.
For the second wife to win against the first son, it is necessary that the son is not in possession of the title documents. If not, her equitable right gotten by reason of long possession would be lost the son’s legal right conferred by the title documents.
However, in the case where the title documents are not in the possession of the first son, the second wife who has enjoyed many years of uninterrupted possession of the property would win.
For more legal in-depth analysis you can continue reading below:
The law is well defined on the methods of establishing title to or ownership of land by a claimant/ counterclaimant; that it can be proved by either of the five ways as stipulated in the case of IDUNDUN VS. OKUMAGBA (1979) 9 – 10 SC 227 at 246 – 250, namely:
“(1) Through traditional history.
(2) By grant or production of document of title.
(3) By acts of ownership extending over a sufficient length of time numerous and positive enough as to warrant the inference that the person(s) exercising such acts of possession are the true owners of the Land.
(4) By acts of long possession, and
(5) By probable that the owner of such land, would, in addition, be the owner of the land in dispute.”
There are scores of other authorities in support of this age-long principle of proof of title to or ownership of land and a person is required to establish only one of them to succeed. See the case of MOGAJI VS. CADBURY NIG LTD (1985) 2 NWLR (Pt.7) 393; ALLI VS.ALESINLOYE (2000) 6 NWLR (Pt.600) 177.
The law is equally well settled that, in a situation of conflicting claims, where each of the opposing parties can establish proof of ownership by any of the acceptable methods of proof of title to or ownership of the same piece or parcel of land, then the party that establishes better title will be entitled to the judgment of the Court. See the case of IDOWU AND ORS VS. THE REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF ONA IWA MIMO CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM CHURCH OF NIGERIA (2012) LPELR 7863 (CA), where it was stated:
“When the issue as to which of two claimants has better right to a piece of land in dispute, the law will ascribe such possession and/or occupation to the person who proves a better title.” See FASORO VS. BEYEKU (1988) 2 NWLR (Pt.76) 263; ONYENEYIN VS.AKINKUGBE (2010) 4 NWLR (Pt. 1184) 265; AROMIRE V5.AWOYEMI (1972) 7 ALL NLR at 10.
PS:
This post is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as full legal advice. While the information provided is in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it should not be used to replace real legal counsel.
However, if you need real legal counsel you can contact us here.