LEGAL PRINCIPLE: LAND LAW — Land Use Act — Section 5(2) — Extinguishment of Rights — Rights to Use and Occupation Distinguished from Proprietary Title
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
The right to use and occupation is one incident of a statutory right of occupancy, not the whole. The title holder has, apart from use and occupation, the right to exclusive possession and disposition, thus having proprietary interest which a mere user does not have.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ayoola, JSC, in Ibrahim v. Mohammed (2003) NLC-591997(SC) at pp. 37–38; Paras D–A.
"The right to the use and occupation of the land which is subject of a statutory right of occupancy is essentially one of the incidents of a statutory right of occupancy... The title of the holder of a statutory right of occupancy embraces several rights of which right to the use and occupation of land is just one. The title holder, or to be more exact, the right-holder, has, apart from the right to the use and occupation of the land, the right to exclusive possession and disposition. The title holder thus has proprietary interest which the mere user and occupier of land does not have."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Use and occupation is only one incident of a statutory right of occupancy. The holder has proprietary interest. The principle applies to land under the Land Use Act. The rule protects the holder’s full rights. Mere user lacks such interest. The principle is well-established.
