Shangisha landlords challenge Lagos over 549-plot title issued to three individuals
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546 judgment creditors have asked Lagos to revoke a global certificate of occupancy covering 549 Shangisha plots issued to Chief Adebayo Adeyiga and two associates while two appeals remain pending.
A fresh controversy has erupted over the protracted Shangisha land dispute after 546 judgment creditors challenged the Lagos State Government over the issuance of a global Certificate of Occupancy covering 549 plots to Chief Adebayo Adeyiga and two associates, The Guardian Nigeria reported.
The aggrieved landowners say the allocation could undermine the interests of the other judgment creditors and prejudice two appeals now pending at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division. The first, CA/L/1005M/2018, arose from an interlocutory ruling of the High Court restricting Adeyiga's representation of the 549 judgment creditors to six members. The second, CA/LAG/CV/117/2026, challenges Justice Lawal Alebiosu's decision declining to order individual allocations or grant title to the Registered Trustees of the Shangisha Landlords Association.
The dispute dates back to the Supreme Court's 2012 judgment in favour of the Shangisha Landlords Association, after which beneficiaries were expected to agree an implementation mechanism with the state. Disagreements reportedly emerged when Adeyiga demanded that all 549 plots be allocated in his name and those of two associates; most creditors instead insisted on individual titles or allocation to the association's registered trustees, and petitioned the Land Use and Allocation Committee and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The creditors also question the role of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, alleging that issuing the disputed title contradicted his earlier position before the Legal Practitioners' Privileges Committee that administrative action on the allocation had been suspended. In his response to the petition, Pedro reportedly acknowledged issuing the directive but said he subsequently ordered a suspension of administrative action on the certificate.
The landowners have called on the Lagos State Government to revoke or suspend the disputed certificate and to suspend all administrative dealings concerning the 549 plots until the appeals are determined, arguing that issuing title while litigation is pending raises questions about the principle of lis pendens.