Habib Disu & Ors V. C. W Daniel-kalio (1964)

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BAIRAMIAN, J.S.C.

In this appeal the defendants complain of the decision in the Lagos High Court Suit No. 147 of 1961 awarding the plaintiff damages for breach of contract.

In 1954 the plaintiff bought a piece of land from one Sadiku Adeniji, and entered into possession; he had a deed, and that was registered; it described the land and had a plan. A judgment given in 1960 made the plaintiff alive to the fact that the true owners were the Disu Labulo Family, and he made a contract to buy it afresh from the Family. He visited the land with the first defendant; he paid £850 down and undertook to pay the balance of £350 by the end of 1960; he was left in possession; on 21st December, 1960, he sent a cheque for £350 with a request for a conveyance.

The memorandum of the contract is as follows:

“HADJ HABIB DISU, SABITIYU ADAGUN, MUMUNI A. DISU, YUNUSA A. DISU.

Received from Mr G. W. Daniel-Kalio the sum of eight hundred and fifty pounds being part payment of four plots of land (150 x 200) erroneously bought from Mr Sadiku-Adeniji and now resold by us on behalf of Disu Labulo Family.

Balance of three hundred and fifty pounds to be paid ere the end of Dec., 1960.”

It is signed by the first, third and fourth, not by the second, of the persons named at the top of the Receipt (exh. B).

On the 23rd December, 1960, Mr Abayomi Disu, a solicitor, sent a letter to the plaintiff enclosing a cheque for £850 and beginning thus:

“I am instructed by my clients the Disu Labulo Family to forward to you a cheque for the sum of £850 which sum represents the deposit you paid for a piece of land at Obele.”

Paragraph 2 goes on to allege that at the beginning of December-

“it was agreed by both parties that if by the 15th December, 1960, the balance was not paid by you the whole negotiation would fall through.”

That was not the fact. Paragraph 3 alleges this:

“Moreover, you would observe that only four plots were bargained for by you, but it was later detected that you had made a misrepresentation and you were going to have six plots.”