special land related maxims

Q562. What does the term or notion of Caveat Emptor connote?

The very simple interpretation of the term is that a buyer must take care; it is a warning to a person who wishes to buy a thing, especially land which are talking here, to look very well before he takes that intended leap. In this instance, a person who wants to buy land should carry out a thorough due diligence (search of Land register in the State, scrutiny of the status of the title documents and the exact terms therein, asking and inquiry from people around that you think might know about the land in the neighbourhood, physically inspecting the land, etc. etc.) before committing to that contract of purchase of land. This is generally because there is no legal implied warranty in land purchase contract. And it is not the duty of the seller to go out of his way to disclose anything about the land to you, things that from your own point of interest are material issues. See UTC Nig. Ltd V. Maobison Interlink & Associate (2003) FWLR (Pt. 179) 1325 @ 1360-1; Chief Balogun V. Pastor Afolayan (2002) FWLR (Pt. 85) 331 @ 350.

Q563. Does it mean that a vendor who deliberately hides some vital information from the a prospective buyer who goes on to buy in reliance of what he was told can always hide under the notion of Caveat Emptor to escape punishment?

Not quite. It depends on what kind of information he withholds or hides. An example will be ideal at this point: A prospective land buyer is taken and shown a bush land for sale and he sees the place and decides that he likes the land and its location, and excitedly goes ahead to pay the negotiated purchase price and collects his payment receipt without going into the land. If afterwards he sends in a Surveyor to survey the land, or he goes in to clear the bush and then discovers that the land he bought has a very deep and wide erosion gully dividing the land into two, a gully which he would need more than the purchase price money to fill up and erect gutters in the proper place before he can make any meaningful development therein. He will not be able, in law, to decide that he will no longer buy the land, and that money he paid must be refunded. See a case of Bell V. Lever Bros. Ltd (1932) A.C. 161, 227with another set of background facts

A buyer who goes ahead to pay and conclude the contract of land purchase relying on the size of the area of the land as told him by the vendor, casting away and ignoring a good opportunity of getting his own surveyor to check that out and draw up a survey in his own name as the new owner of the property, but later discovers that the parcel of land is very much less than claimed by the vendor, has only himself to blame. That was the situation in the foreign cases of Dutton V. Bognor Regis U.D.C. (1972) All ER. 462, and Higgins V. Arfon Borough Council (1975) 2 All ER. 588.But that would be different where the situation was such that the buyer never had an opportunity to check out the information supplied him by the vendor as happened in the case of Shodipo V. Coker 11 NLR 138 where the purchase was by an auction sale. The wisdom in this matters always remains caveat emptor!! Of course, there are those actions of the vendor that would be outright fraud which would expose the cheating or defrauding vendor to criminal prosecution. See Section 423 of the Criminal Code and Section 320 of the Penal Code for his criminal exposure. Also such scenario could be resolved in favour of the cheated or deceived buyer by the application of the rule of Nemo dat quod non habet – a person cannot give what he does not have. See Mohammed V. Klargester Nig. Ltd. (2002) FWLR (Pt. 127) 1078 @ 1095; Polo V. Ojor (2003) FWLR (Pt. 137) 1085 @ 1096. In Sule V. Aromire 20 NLR 20 where the vendor in an auction sale deceived the purchaser with a Court Judgment not related to the land in question, the court easily held that the buyer was induced by fraudulent misrepresentation, nullified the contract and ordered refund of purchase price money paid

Q564. What is the meaning of the Latin maxim: Nemo dat quod non habet?

It simply means that you cannot give what you do not have. This axiomatic principle regularly comes for consideration in matters of contract for sale, especially of land where people do so very often deliberately and greedily try to sell and resell their land to unsuspecting fellows. It does also come up in situations where the vendors act innocently believing that they have land to sale only to find otherwise when challenged by others who claim title. See Morakinyo V. Adesoyero (1995) 7 NWLR (Pt. 409) 602 @ 616; Kalio V. Kalio (2005) 4 NWLR (Pt. 915) 305 @ 324 – 325 Okelola V. Adeleke (2004) 13 NWLR (Pt. 890) 307 @ 324; Toronto Hospital Nig. Ltd V. Ukpaka (2017) HELAR ratio 2; Alawiye V. Hon. Minister FCT (2017) HELAR ratio 8

Q565. What is the meaning of the Latin maxim expressed as Quic quid plantatur solo solo cedit?

The principle or rule of Quic quid plantatur solo solo cedit implies that anything that is fixed to the land is part of the land. Whoever is adjudged to be the owner of the land or landed property takes it with every fixed thing unto it, e.g. houses, trees and crops, electric pole, fixed wardrobes, etc. etc. This operates usually in a situation where a party in a land dispute case has effected some permanent or fixed development in the land, and all such things which any attempt to remove them will cause some injury to the land or landed property. If the other party wins the case and adjudged to be the owner of the land or house, he takes the land and all such fixed developments thereon. This happens automatically, or is taken as a natural consequential effect of the judgment being in the parties favour. See the S.C. cases of Gaji V. Paye (2003) 8 NWLR (Pt. 823) 583 @ 607 – 608; Owie v. Ighiwi (2005) 5 NWLR (Pt. 917) 184 @ 197. JK NIG. LTDV. UBA PLC (2020) HELAR ratio 1