A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, presided over by Justice Maryanne Anenih, has declared a former Senate President, Ameh Ebute, as the lawful owner of a disputed plot of land in the Wuye District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In a judgment delivered yesterday after 25 years of legal battle, Justice Anenih voided the action of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) in allocating the property to another person, Emmanuel Okereke, after legally allocating the same to the former President of the Senate. 

The disputed plot, marked L346, was allocated to Senator Ebute on September 25, 1993, while the same property was assigned to Okereke, a Director with the FCDA, on October 22, 1993.

Trouble began when the two parties started laying claims and counterclaims to the property, leading to a legal action by Ebute to seek redress.  The case, which was initially filed at the Federal High Court in 2001, was transferred to the FCT High Court on the grounds of jurisdiction.

Ebute had approached the court by way of a writ of summons, seeking a declaration that he is the rightful allottee, having been granted a right of occupancy by the FCDA as far back as September 25, 1993.

He asked the court to declare any subsequent grant of the same land to any other person as illegal, null and void.   He also sought a perpetual injunction restraining the FCDA and the second defendant from entering, developing, or interfering with the plot.

The second defendant, in turn, countered the claim, asserting that he was the legitimate allottee, having been issued a Certificate of Occupancy upon payment of the requisite fees.  

Okereke, a retired FCT Director, told the court that he followed due process in applying for and receiving the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the FCDA after paying survey and ground rent fees. He asked the court to declare Ebute’s actions as trespass and demanded damages to the tune of N100 million.

However, a staff member of the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), in testimony, admitted that the FCDA had erroneously reallocated the same land, and that Ebute was never issued a letter of revocation, cancellation, or replacement of his original allocation.  

Although the defendants claimed that Ebute had been offered a replacement plot and sold the same to Dana Airline, they, however, could not adduce evidence that he accepted the offer.

In her judgment, Justice Anenih upheld the undisputed claim of Ebute that he was the first allotee, and noted that where there are conflicting allocations, the “first in time prevails.”  

She held that Ebute’s allocation, having come first on September 25, 1993, takes precedence over the second allocation held more than a month after.  

The court also found no credible evidence that the second defendant’s allocation was intended as a replacement for Ebute’s.