Ebun Francis
The Federal Government on Friday suffered a set back in its quest to stop Lagos State Government from controlling and managing its land in Lagos as the supreme struck out the suit it filed challenging the power of Lagos state to do so.
The dispute was about “general control and management of federal land within Lagos State particularly the re-issuance of certificates of occupancy, granting consent or exercising rights of ownership.”
Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour’s five man panel unanimously struck out the Federal Government’s suit after upholding the preliminary objection filed by the Lagos Government to challenge the competence of the suit.
Justice Dattijo Muhammad, who read the apex court’s lead ruling, agreed with the Lagos State Government that the court lacked the power to exercise its “original jurisdiction” in the suit because the Federal Government had “transferred its title in the land to others”.’