Section 73 Property and Conveyancing Law of the Western Region of Nigeria 1959

Section 73 of the Property and Conveyancing Law of the Western Region of Nigeria 1959 is about Stipulations preventing a purchaser, lessee, or underlessee from employing his own solicitor to be void. It provides as follows:

(1) Any stipulation made on the sale of any interest in land after the
commencement of this Law to the effect that the conveyance to, or the registration of the title of, the purchaser shall be prepared or carried out at the expense of the purchaser by a solicitor appointed by or acting for the vendor, and any stipulation which might restrict a purchaser in the selection of a solicitor to act on his behalf in relation to any interest in land agreed to be purchased, shall be void; and, if a sale is effected by demise or sub-demise, then, for the purposes of this sub-section, the instrument required for giving effect to the transaction shall be deemed to be a conveyance:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall affect any right reserved to a vendor to furnish a form of conveyance to a purchaser from which the draft can be prepared, or to charge a reasonable fee therefor.

(2) Any covenant or stipulation contained in, or entered into with reference to any
lease or underlease made before or after the commencement of this Law
(a) whereby the right of preparing, at the expense of a purchaser, any conveyance of the estate or interest of the lessee or underlessee in the demised premises or in any part thereof, or of otherwise carrying out, at the expense of the purchaser, any dealing with such estate or interest, is expressed to be reserved to or vested in the lessor or underlessor or his solicitor; or

(b) which in any way restricts the right of the purchaser to have such conveyance
carried out on his behalf by a solicitor appointed by him;

shall be void:

Provided that, where any covenant or stipulation is rendered void by this subsection, there shall be implied in lieu thereof a covenant or stipulation that the lessee or underlessee shall register with the lessor or his solicitor within six months from the date thereof, or as soon after the expiration of that period as may be practicable, all conveyances and devolutions (including probates or letters of administration) affecting the lease or underlease and pay a fee of one guinea in respect of each registration, and the power of entry (if any) on breach of any covenant contained in the lease or underlease shall apply and extend to the breach of any covenant so to be implied.

(3) Save where a sale is effected by demise or sub-demise, this section does not
affect the law relating to the preparation of a lease or underlease or the draft thereof.

(4) In this section “lease” and “underlease” include any agreement therefor or other tenancy, and “lessee” and “underlessee” and “lessor” and “under-lessor” have corresponding meanings.