RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY
In our previous lesson, we understood the concept of land ownership and established that absolute ownership over land belongs to the State Government, while citizens hold a right of occupancy over land.
Today, we will be delving into the right of occupancy, and all you need to know about it.
A right of occupancy is a grant that provides a person with exclusive rights over a piece of land. This right is provided under Sections 5 and 6 of the Land Use Act 1978 (LUA 1978)
A right of occupancy is the maximum interest an individual or entity can have over a land. Once the right of occupancy is successfully obtained, the recipient is referred to as the “holder”. There are two types of rights of occupancy recognized under the Land Use Act 1978, they are as follows:
· Statutory Right of Occupancy granted by the State’s Governor for both urban and rural areas.
· Customary Right of Occupancy, under customary law, granted by the Local Government Council for rural areas.
The significance and benefits of rights of occupancy include legal validity and ownership recognition, title perfection and transaction facilitation, enhanced property value and marketability, protection against trespassers, security, social order, and investment opportunities. and government acknowledgment and compliance. the implications of failing to secure the right of occupancy include the vulnerability of property to trespassers and limited investment potential.
The holder of a right of occupancy is often referred to as the owner of the land. While this may be accurate, it is only to an extent, as a right of occupancy however differs from absolute ownership over land in the following ways among others:
- Section 8 of the LUA 1978 establishes that the right is for a definite term and in Nigeria, that term is for 99 years.
Section 8 of the LUA 1978— Statutory right of occupancy granted under the provisions of section 5 (1) (a) of this Act shall be for a definite term and may be granted subject to the terms of any contract which may be made by the Governor and the holder not being inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.
2. Sections 21 and 22 of the LUA 1978 establish that you cannot transfer or alienate your right of occupancy without the consent of the governor.
Section 21 of the LUA 1978- It shall not be lawful for any customary right of occupancy or any part thereof to be alienated by assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise howsoever-
(a) without the consent of the Governor in cases where the property is to be sold by or under the order of any court under the provisions of the applicable Sheriffs and Civil Process Law; or
(b) in other cases without the approval of the appropriate local government.
Section 22 of the LUA 1978- (1) It shall not be lawful for the holder of a statutory right of occupancy granted by the Governor to alienate his right of occupancy or any part thereof by assignment, mortgage, transfer of possession, sublease or otherwise howsoever without the consent of the Governor first had and obtained:
3. By Section 28 of the LUA 1978, a right of occupancy can be revoked. That is, although one has a valid claim to a land, such a claim can still be revoked.
Section 28 of the LUA 1978- It shall be lawful for the Governor to revoke a right of occupancy for overriding public interest.
This provision is known as REVOCATION OF RIGHT OF OCCPANCY, and this would be delved into in our next publication.
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