LEGAL PRINCIPLE: LAND LAW – Sale of Land – Nemo Dat Quod Non Habet – Vendor Without Title Cannot Pass Title
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
No one may give that which does not belong to him. ... The purported sale of the land in dispute by P.W.3 and members of the Oniseyitan sub-family to the appellant in 1977 was, therefore, a nudum pactum, an exercise in futility and null and void ab initio.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Iguh, JSC, in Ojengbede v. Esan & Anor (2001) NLC-321991(SC) at p. 18; Paras B–D.
"No one may give that which does not belong to him. ... The purported sale of the land in dispute by P.W.3 and members of the Oniseyitan sub-family to the appellant in 1977 was, therefore, a nudum pactum, an exercise in futility and null and void ab initio."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
The maxim nemo dat quod non habet (no one gives what they do not have) governs land sales. A vendor without title cannot pass valid title to a purchaser. The sale is a nudum pactum (empty agreement)—an exercise in futility, void ab initio. The purchaser acquires nothing. The principle protects true owners from unauthorised transfers. The burden is on the purchaser to prove the vendor’s title. If the vendor’s title is defective, the purchaser’s title is also defective. The principle applies regardless of the purchaser’s good faith, unless an exception applies (e.g., bona fide purchaser for value without notice under certain statutes, estoppel). The sale is null and void from the beginning. The court will not enforce such a sale.
