LEGAL REGIME FOR COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND IN NIGERIA: RESOLVING THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAND USE ACT

Abstract

Compulsory Acquisition is the process by which national or regional governments obtain properties for developmental purposes when they consider this to be in the best interest of the community upon the payment of prompt and adequate compensation to the owners of the properties. In Nigeria, there are two principal legislations regulating compulsory acquisition. They are the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Land Use Act. Sections 43 and 44 of the Constitution encapsulates the right of every Nigerian to acquire and own immovable properties in any part of the country and provides for such rights not to be compulsorily acquired without the payment of prompt and adequate compensation. Section 28 of the Land Use Act, on the other hand, empowers the Governor to revoke a right of occupancy for overriding public interest and entitles any person whose right of occupancy has been revoked to compensation for unexhausted improvement on the land which is the subject of the right of occupancy and neither for the land itself nor for the right of occupancy. In view of the seeming conflict between the provisions of the above legislations, this work undertook a comparative and critical examination of the two legal frameworks for compulsory acquisition in Nigeria vis-à-vis the United Nations’ guideline on compulsory acquisition of land and compensation. It was found that the legal regime for revocation under the Land Use Act is in conflict with the legal regime for compulsory acquisition under the Constitution. It was also found that the legal regime for revocation of title does not meet the requirement contained United Nations’ guideline on compulsory acquisition of land and compensation and therefore needs to be reviewed. In response, the work recommends that the legal regime for revocation of right of occupancy and compensation under the Act should be reviewed to bring it in tandem with the current global trend on the subject as encapsulated in the United Nations’ guideline on compulsory acquisition of land and compensation.