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Nigeria’s Supreme Court has said that the Federal Government has no locus to challenge the Land Regularisation Policy of the Lagos State government and therefore dismissed a suit instituted by the government at the centre.

While ruling on this on Friday in Abuja, a seven-man panel of the apex court upheld the preliminary objection filed by the state government to contest the legality of the suit by the Federal Government.
Lagos state government by the policy had specified the process of ratifying the title of holders of Certificates of Occupancy said to have been acquired from the Federal Government.
However, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) represented by Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), had in a suit with reference number SC/50/ 2011, invoked the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to challenge provisions of the policy.
In his argument at the court, Agbakoba made reference to certain properties where title holders were required by Lagos State to pay certain amount as “Ratification” of their title before any other transactions can be permitted on such land.
But the state government raising a preliminary objection argued that it was not for the Supreme Court to exercise original jurisdiction in the matter, since the subject matter was a land matter which falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court.
The office of Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, further reasoned that the AGF did not have the locus to file the action on behalf of the federation against the state government on the argument that the matter in question was between Federal Government and the Lagos State government.