TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. (Week 3) General Overview and Applicable Laws to Property
Law Practice - - - - - - - - - 3
2. (Week 4) Deeds and Deed of Conveyance - - - - 12
3. (Week 5) Power of Attorney - - - - - - 27
4. (Week 6) Contract of Sale and Conveyancing I - - - 43
5. (Week 7) Contract of Sal...
, KILLI NANCWAT – PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE (NLSE – 2018/2019)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. (Week 3) General Overview and Applicable Laws to Property
Law Practice - - - - - - - - - 3
2. (Week 4) Deeds and Deed of Conveyance - - - - 12
3. (Week 5) Power of Attorney - - - - - - 27
4. (Week 6) Contract of Sale and Conveyancing I - - - 43
5. (Week 7) Contract of Sale and Conveyancing II - - - 58
6. (Week 8) Land Registration under Lagos State Lands Registration Law-74
7. (Week 9) Leases I - - - - - - - - 81
8. (Week 10) Leases II - - - - - - - - 91
9. (Week 11) Mortgages & Charges I - - - - - 111
10. (Week 12) Mortgages and Charges II - - - - - 128
11. (Week 13) Mortgages and Charges III - - - - - 137
12. (Week 14) Solicitors Billing and Charges - - - - 147
13. (Week 15) Wills and Codicils I - - - - - - 160
14. (Week 16) Wills and Codicils II - - - - - - 171
15. (Week 17) Wills & Codicils III - - - - - - 182
16. (Week 18) Probate & Letters of Administration - - - 190
17. (Week 19) Personal Representatives & Assent - - - 198
18. (Week 20) Property Law Taxation - - - - - 206
2
, KILLI NANCWAT – PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE (NLSE – 2018/2019)
(Week 3)
GENERAL OVERVIEW AND APPLICABLE LAWS TO
PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE
MEANING AND SCOPE OF PROPERTY LAW
I. Meaning of Property
The word property has a variety of meanings depending on the context in which it is used.
Sometimes, it may mean ownership or title such as when it is said that property in the goods
passes to the buyer immediately the contract of sale is concluded whether or not the goods have
been physically transferred to him. It may mean the ‘res’ (thing) over which ownership may be
exercised. It may also mean an interest in a thing less than ownership but nevertheless
conferring certain rights such as when it is said that ‘B’ as pledgee has ‘special property’ in the
subject matter of the security – Donald v. Suckling.1
In whichever sense the word property is used, property law is designed to regulate the relation
of persons to things thereby providing a secure foundation for the acquisition, enjoyment and
disposal of things or wealth.
Property may also mean the right of a person to something tangible and physical, such as a
parcel of land. It may also relate to something intangible such as a right in a work protected by
copyright. This view finds support in Section 2(1) of the Conveyancing Act 1881 which defines
“property”, to include real and personal property, any estate or interest in any property, real or
personal, any debt, anything in action, any other right or interest. Land is depicted to include
land of any tenure, tenements, hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal and houses and other
buildings, also an undivided share in land – Section 2 of the CA.
This course deals basically with property transactions (conveyance) and laws applicable to
tangible or real property (land, anything attached to land or any interest in land).
II. Meaning of Conveyance
Conveyance is the application of the law of Real Property in practice. It is not often easy to
differentiate between real property law and its practice, for while the former is static, the latter
is dynamic. Real property law deals with the rights and liabilities of landowners, while its
practice (conveyancing) deals with the art of creating and transferring rights in land. Yet, one
cannot be a good conveyance without a good grasp of real property law. Conveyancing
transactions may occur in a number of situations such as sales of land, leases, and mortgages.
Conveyances are described as including “assignment, appointment, lease, settlement and other
assurance and covenant to surrender, made by deed, on a sale, mortgage, demise, or settlement
of any property, or any other dealing with or for any property”. However, a Will is an exception
to a conveyance – Section 2(1) of the PCL, 1959 - because it is ambulatory (movable), which
“…distinguishes a will from a conveyance…,” the latter being “inter vivos, which operates at
once or at some fixed time.”
III. Property Law Practice Jurisdictions and the States Covered By Each
1. Property and Conveyancing Law 1959: applicable to the old Western Nigeria - Edo, Delta,
Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States.
2. Conveyancing Act 1882: applicable to the old Eastern (Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross-River,
Akwa-Ibom, Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra) and old Northern States (Kaduna,
Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, etc.) and some parts of Lagos. Note that
CA applies to some parts of Lagos, but when it comes to mortgages, in Lagos CA no longer
applies. The applicable laws in Lagos for mortgages are: Mortgage and Property Law of
Lagos (MPL) and RTL.
1
(1866) LR 1QB, 585
3
, KILLI NANCWAT – PROPERTY LAW PRACTICE (NLSE – 2018/2019)
3. Registration of Titles Law of Lagos State 2003: applicable to most parts of Lagos (Ikoyi,
Lagos Island, Obalende, Victoria Island, Ebutte-Metta, some parts of Mushin, Yaba,
Badagry, Apapa, Gbagada, Surulere, and Somolu). However, this law has been repealed by
virtue of Section 122 Land Registration Law Lagos State 2014.
APPLICABLE LAWS
I. Customary Law
This is a set of rules of conduct applying to persons and things in a particular locality, which
exist at the relevant and material time and is recognised and adhered to by the inhabitants of
the community as binding on them. Custom is usually a question of fact which is required to
be pleaded and proved by witnesses in any legal proceeding – Olubodun v. Lawal;2 Odutola
v. Sanya.3
These rules and customs vary from one society to another. The simple requirements of payment
of the purchase price; the presence of witnesses; and allowing the buyer into possession, are
sufficient elements for sale under native law and custom in Nigeria. Once these 3 elements
exist, a valid sale could be said to have taken place – Adesanya v. Aderonmu.4 However, the
provisions of the CA and PCL do not regulate customary transactions of land – See Olubodun
v. Lawal (supra) where the SC held that the trial court erred in admitting such a document (a
letter written by their ancestors tendered by the plaintiff) in evidence.
II. Islamic Law
Islamic law is one of the sources of law applied by the courts in Nigeria to regulate legal
relationships especially by and among adherents of the Islamic faith or where the parties are
not of Islamic faith, but consent to the application of Islamic law to regulate their relationship.
See Section 277(1) CFRN 1999. Islamic law is founded on the provisions of the Koran and the
Hadith (primary sources of Islamic law) which regulate the facets of life of Muslim.
Transactions relating to property such as succession, wills, gifts, rights, obligations and interest
in land are regulated by Islamic law and applied by the courts in Nigeria. For instance, the
distribution of the estate of a deceased Muslim is set by Islamic Law and compliance is
mandatory. See Abdulsalad v Abdulahi.5
III. Case Law
These are decisions of the courts and opinions expressed by jurists in respect of disputes over
real property that may be brought by contending parties before and decided by the courts. Some
of these courts exercise original jurisdiction in respect of certain subject matters of land. The
jurisdiction of the High Court also covers land matters that are the subject of customary right
of occupancy or those in non-urban areas – Adisa v. Oyinwola;6 Odetola v. Bamidele.7
In some States, appeals over land matters decided by the Area or Customary Courts may be
dealt with on appeal by the High Court. However, customary arbitrations are accepted by higher
courts as binding on the parties to the arbitration but decisions at customary arbitration is not
considered as a means of proving title to land in Nigeria, although it may aid in establishing
the traditional history of root of title based on the custom of the people – Nruama v.
Ebuzoeme.8
Appeals may lie from the decision of a lower court to a higher court. As a result of the common
law principle of stare decisis, the judgment and opinions expressed by a superior court binds a
2
(2008) All FWLR (Pt. 438) p. 1468
3
(2008) All FWLR (Pt. 400) p. 780
4
(2000) FWLR (Pt. 15) p. 2492
5
(2015) All FWLR (Pt. 789) 916
6
(2000) 10 NWLR (Pt. 674) p. 1349
7
(2007) All FWLR (Pt. 387) p. 841
8
(2007) All FWLR p. 347 at 740
4
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