The Attorney General Of Lagos State V. The Hon. Justice L. J. Dosunmu (1989)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

OPUTA, J.S.C.

This is an appeal from a reserved judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on the 1st day of September, 1988. Akpata, J.C.A., wrote the lead judgment, while Babalakin and Awogu, J.J.C.A., concurred. Akpata, J.C.A., in the opening paragraph of his judgment at p. 335 of the record of proceedings, said inter alia:

“This appeal covers a large range of important legal issues. There is the question whether an Order contained in a legal notice pursuant to a Section of an Edict can over-ride another Section which has not been repealed. Also prominent is the issue of the now ubiquitous ouster Clauses” in Decrees which purport to prevent courts from entertaining the question of the validity of any Decree or Edict. . . .”

In his contribution in his concurring judgment, Awogu, J.C.A., at p. 371 of the record observed inter alia:

“. . . . The appellant attacked the claim of the Respondent on two major grounds. The first is that it contravened the provisions of S. 6(6)(d) 1979 Constitution which ousted the jurisdiction of the court in respect of an existing law made before October 1979. There is of course, no doubt that Edict No. 10 of 1976 was an existing law as Akpata, J. C.A., has shown, but Sections 4 and 6 thereof were unconstitutional in so far as they infringed the provisions of Section 31 of the 1963 Constitution. To that effect, Section 274 of the 1979 Constitution provided for the offending provisions to be declared invalid by the court, and provisions of S.6(6)(d) notwithstanding” .

The judgment of the Court of Appeal now appealed against was in no doubt that the issue of the Court’s jurisdiction was a radical and crucial issue in this case.

The facts of this case are short and are in the main not in dispute. The Government of the Federation of Nigeria in 1963 leased plot 134 Victoria Island to the Plaintiff/Respondent. This lease was registered as LO.5257. Eleven years later, in 1974, the Lagos State Government leased another plot No. 272 in the self same Victoria Island to the plaintiff/Respondent. This second plot was registered as LO.7307. In addition to these two plots in Victoria Island the plaintiff/Respondent was the lessee of plot No. 571 in South-West Ikoyi. This other plot was registered as LO4295.

In July 1975, there was a change of Government and the Military Government which came to power at that time was (to quote from the Introduction to the appellant’s Brief) “a revolutionary one” which “embarked on:

(i) A mass retirement of public servants in a most unprecedented manner; (ii) compulsory take-over of privately owned schools;

(iii) Probes by Special Assets Investigation Panels of the assets of public officers in various States;

(iv) A review of the system of land holding.”

In Lagos State, the Military Administration “evolved a new policy that no person should own more than one plot of State land at Victoria Island and not more than two plots of such land in South-West Ikoyi irrespective of whether or not such plots were acquired by direct allocation or by transfer or by assignment. ”

Pursuant to the above land policy, the Military Government of Lagos State on the 11th day of August, 1975 set up a Committee of three men made up of Mr. T. O. Folami, Mr. D. O. Ijeru and Mr. Ashorobi who were to compile a comprehensive list of names of persons who owned more than one plot in Victoria Island and more than 2 plots in South-West Ikoyi. On receiving the Committee’s Report, the Military Governor of Lagos State enacted the Determination of Certain Interests in Lands Edict No.3 of 1976 and Determination of Interests in State Lands Order L.S.L.N. No.9 of 1976.

The Plaintiff/Respondent was affected as he owned more than one plot in Victoria Island. His (plaintiff/Respondent’s) interest in this second plot No. 272 registered as LO.7307 was determined by the 1976 Order L.S.L.N. No.9 of 1976.