Residents and property owners at NICON Town Estate in Lekki have asked a Lagos State High Court to reject the originating summons filed by Harris Dredging Limited and Nicon Town Management Company (NTMC).

They prayed for a full trial in a NICON town land battle to allow full pleadings and oral evidence, and to determine whether the suit should proceed by originating summons or be converted to a writ of summons for a full trial.

In the suit, the defendants comprising the Incorporated Trustees of the NICON Town Residents and Plot Owners’ Association and 14 individual homeowners told the court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square that the claimants’ chosen procedure was fundamentally unsuitable for a dispute steeped in allegations of fraud, conflicting documents, disputed authority and competing historical claims to the land.

Harris Dredging and NTMC instituted the suit marked LD/5141/LM/2024, against the 15 defendants, seeking confirmation of Harris Dredging’s title to a 5,899.31sqm parcel of land located within the Community Centre Zone of NICON Town.

They also asked the court to declare that their 2010 Deed of Sub-lease, registered as Instrument No. 76/76/2349 at the Lagos State Land Registry, remains valid and enforceable.

However, the defendants’ counsel, Adebayo Adeyemo, argued that the originating summons procedure cannot accommodate the scope of the dispute.

He said the court must inquire into whether the title document relied on by the claimants is genuine, valid and properly executed; whether NTMC had legal authority to issue it; and whether allegations of fraud, illegality and misrepresentation invalidate the purported sub-lease.

Adeyemo submitted that the issues raise “sharply contested facts” which the court cannot resolve on affidavit evidence alone, adding that the Supreme Court consistently held originating summons as inappropriate for such fact-heavy controversies.

On the other hand, the claimants’ counsel, George Oguntade (SAN), insisted that the case was properly constituted.

He said the amended originating summons filed on June 30, 2025 primarily seeks interpretation of the May 31, 2023 settlement agreement, which he said “binds residents and resolves all outstanding issues,” including the recognition of Harris Dredging’s title.

Oguntade also argued that the defendants, having signed the agreement, could not attempt to invalidate it or reopen points already settled.

Counsel to the first defendant, TitilolaAkinlawon (SAN), objected that the claimants were deliberately ignoring an earlier 2016 agreement that directly contradicts their position and that the existence of overlapping documents and alleged inconsistencies makes a full trial indispensable.

In an extensive affidavit, the second defendant, AdekolaBalogun, argued that the disputed parcel is part of the Community Centre Zone designated in the approved layout plan (DM/628 of October 22, 2003) for utilities, recreation, green spaces and NEPA/NITEL/WATER facilities.

He attached the sample of the sub-lease deed and the layout plan as exhibits.

Balogun said NTMC itself was only incorporated in April 2004, long after Julius Berger and P.W. Nigeria Limited had dredged, sand-filled and constructed the estate’s infrastructure in 2002.

He maintained that residents had used the land, including two Olympic-size tennis courts, since 2005, adding that the first claimant neither developed the estate nor owns the land, citing a 2008 admission by NTMC that it held no land assets.

According to him, the 2010 Deed of Sub-Lease relied on by the claimants is invalid because shareholders never authorised it, the company lacked authority to sublease communal land, and the document contains fraudulent recitals and misrepresentations.

Balogun accused the claimants of withholding the approved layout plan because it undermines their claim.

The defendants also filed a motion seeking to disqualify MrYele Delano (SAN) from representing Harris Dredging, alleging a fundamental conflict of interest.

They said Delano is a plot owner in the estate, a member of the Residents’ Association (a defendant), a director of NTMC (the second claimant) and the drafter of the disputed 2016 agreement in which he allegedly acknowledged the land as communal property. These roles, they argued, make him a potential witness, rendering his participation as counsel unethical and contrary to the Rules of Professional Conduct.

The defendants further accused the claimants of changing counsel to Delano without securing the leave of court as required by the Lagos High Court Civil Procedure Rules.

Responding, the Company Secretary of Harris Dredging, OkonOkon, stated that the firm co-developed the estate with the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON). He said tensions escalated only after residents built a tennis court on the land in 2011.

Okon maintained that all disputes were resolved in a comprehensive 2023 settlement that recognised Harris Dredging’s title and required the company to make major concessions, including granting the Residents’ Association an 800sqm plot, paying N150 million, selling another plot on their behalf and remitting N400 million to the association, as well as approving layout plans and integrating residents into NTMC governance.

He said a minority group later repudiated the settlement and mobilised others to obstruct development activities, leading to the current litigation.

After hearing submissions from both parties, Justice OlukayodeOgunjobi adjourned the matter till February 19, 2026, for a ruling on the preliminary objections.