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DEFAULT IN PAYING BALANCE FOR SALE OF LAND WILL RESCIND THE CONTRACT

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Dictum

Mustapha v. Abubakar (2026) 7 NWLR (Pt. 2043) 541 at 574, E — H: ‘Therefore, where the purchaser fails to pay the purchase price for a property in full or fails to pay it on time, where time is of essence, the courts have held that he will have no right to call for specific performance as such a breach of undertaking is fundamental to the entire contract’. … ‘Where a purchaser of land made part payment of the purchase price but defaulted in paying the balance, there can be no valid sale even where the purchaser is in possession – Manya v. Idris (2001) 8 NWLR (Pt. 716) 627, Saka v. Ijuh (2010) 4 NWLR (Pt. 1184) 405. There will then be a right in the vendor to rescind the contract of sale and resell the property’.

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PART PERFORMANCE REQUIRES POSSESSION INTO LAND

Therefore, for the plaintiff to be able to rely on part performance, he must be the person who has been let into possession of land and allowed to alter his position for the worse by carrying out acts in performance of the contract. Equity then come to his aid arising from the changed position in...

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NOTICE OF POSSESSION OF LAND – ACTS DONE ON LAND

In Mogaji and Ors v. Cadbury Fry (Export) Ltd. (supra) at p. 88, Madarikan, JSC, delivering the judgment of the Supreme Court said: “Possession of a parcel of land means the occupation or physical control of the land either personally or through an agent. As stated by Lord Fitzgerald in Lord Advocate v. Young (1887) 12 App. Cas. 544 at p. 556, by possession is meant possession of that character of which the thing possessed is capable. Thus, if a person adduced evidence that he or his agent or servant were cultivating a farmland that would be evidence sufficient to establish that he was in possession of the land. Similarly, if a person erects on a parcel of land a signboard bearing his name, he hereby gives notice to all and sundry that he is in possession of the land.”

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ALL LANDS VESTED IN MILITARY GOVERNOR

The control and management of all land in the state, apart from the land vested in the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is therefore vested either in the Military Governor or the Local Government and while the Military Governor has power to grant statutory right of occupancy in respect of any land [see section...

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INTERPRETATION OF S.22 LAND USE ACT

Firstly, the position of section 22 of the Act, is undoubtedly, that a holder of a right of occupancy, may enter into an agreement or contract, with a view to alienating his said right of occupancy. In entering into such an agreement or contract, he does not need the consent of the Governor. He merely...

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REVOLUTIONARY EFFECT OF THE LAND USE ACT

Since the promulgation of the Act by the Military Administration of General Obasanjo in 1978, the vast majority of Nigerians have been unaware of its revolutionary effect. They have been unaware that the Act swept away all the unlimited rights and interest they had in their lands and substituted them with very limited rights and...

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PURCHASER’S INABILITY TO FULFILL PART PAYMENT WILL NULLIFY THE LAND CONTRACT

Mustapha v. Abubakar (2026) 7 NWLR (Pt. 2043) 541 at 568 — 569, D — A: ‘In the case of Florence Achonu v. Oladipo Okuwobi (2017)LPELR-42102(SC), (2017) 14 NWLR (Pt.1584) 142 this court addressed the critical issue of the purchaser’s inability to fulfil payment obligations. The court emphasized the legal implications of such a failure, exploring the responsibilities of both the buyer and the seller within the context of the transaction. The court underscored the importance of timely payment under contractual agreements and outlined the consequences that arise when a purchaser fails to meet his financial commitments as stipulated in the contract. “The law is settled that where a purchaser of land makes part payment of the purchase price, but defaults in paying the balance, there can be no valid sale even where the purchaser is in possession. Such possession is incapable of defeating the vendor’s title. See Odusoga v. Ricketts (1997) 7 NWLR (Pt. 511) 1.In the instant case, the purchaser, that is the appellant had failed to pay the balance of the purchase price at the expiration of the one week agreed upon by her and after extension of time and repeated demands for payment by the respondent. The learned Justices of the Court of Appeal were therefore justified when they quashed the trial court’s order for specific performance. This issue is accordingly resolved against the appellant and in favour of the respondent.” The law is fairly settled that a purchaser cannot make part payment and refuse to complete payment as agreed, so doing will amount to repudiation of the agreement and the vendor will be at liberty to claim damages for breach of contract, parties are bound by their agreement. Again, where the purchaser acts in breach of his agreement with the vendor, he cannot ask for specific performance’.

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