LAND LAW — Title to Land — Identity of Land — Test for Establishment of Identity
Principle Statement
The test for the establishment of the identity of land is whether a surveyor can, from the record, produce an accurate plan of such land. While it is the law that a plan is not in all cases a sine qua non, some description is necessary to make a disputed land ascertainable.
Ratio Decidendi (Source)
Per Tobi, JSC, in Aremu v. Adetoro (2007) NLC-123-418-2001(SC) at p. 5; Paras B–C.
"The test for the establishment of the identity of land is whether a surveyor can, from the record, produce an accurate plan of such land. While it is the law that a plan is not in all cases a sine qua non, some description is necessary to make a disputed land ascertainable."
Explanation / Scope
The test for identifying land is whether a surveyor can produce an accurate plan from the record. While a survey plan is not always mandatory, some description must be provided to make the land ascertainable. The description must be sufficient to identify the land with certainty.
