By Abdul-Aziz Jimoh Esq.
With respect to Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, I earnestly believe that the facts on ground in the Wike/Naval Lieutenant Yerima confrontation does not bring the issue within the purview of section 11 of the Land Use Act, 1978. Are the inspection envisaged under section 11 coupled with an intention to enter land with a bulldozer to destroy buildings thereon?Absolutely not!
The section provides as follows:
“The Governor or any public officer duly authorised by the Governor in that behalf shall have the power to enter upon and inspect the land comprised in any statutory right of occupancy or any improvements effected thereon at any reasonable hours in the day time and the occupier shall permit and give free access to the Governor or any such officer so to enter and inspect.” (Emphasis mine)
It is a notorious fact that the Minister of the FCT has been entering land and bulldozing buildings thereon. In this particular instance, the officials of the Minister had gone to the land with a bulldozer! They were barred by Naval personnel led by Naval Lieutenant Yerima. They reported to the Minister, who then charged to the site in a fit of fury with several armed security operatives. He was also resisted by the military personnel, quite lawfully too! Aside from the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is the grundnorm, a military General (or equivalent) in the Armed forces (serving or retired) is entitled to military protection of his life and properties. This should dispel a lot of surprisingly ignorant and misinformed position that military men should not be found protecting private properties! That is definitely not true and there is no law that says so!
Now, back to the main issue, it is pertinent to ask this very germane question: are bulldozers now also governorship/ministerial inspectors envisaged by the section 11 of the Land Use Act, 1978? We must be careful not to unwittingly sanction a flagrant abuse of section 11 of the Land Use Act, which is exactly what the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike has been doing under the Land Use Act. I do not know of where any Governor has gone to inspect land accompanied by a bulldozer. Accordingly, the provisions of section 11 must be viewed with the magnifying glass of antecedents and practical realities of the factual situation presented by each case. Here is a Minister notoriously known for just bulldozing buildings in adverse possession without allowing the owners to evacuate their valuables. Such a man now shows up on site with bulldozers and a battalion of security agents! Unless one wishes to ignore the obvious, minister Wike was not at the site to inspect land under section 11 of the Land Use Act; he was there to recover possession and demolish the buildings being constructed there under a whimsical section of laws made and operated by the Minister! I therefore respectfully disagree with the opinion of Mr. Femi Falana, SAN., in so far as it purports to give a Legislative imprimatur to the visit of the Minister. To enter upon and Inspect under section 11 of the Land Use Act does not include, and must not be stretched to include, the forceful takeover and bulldozing of buildings on land in adverse possession!
Support for my humble disagreement with the learned Silk is the opinion eloquently espoused by Mr. Falana, SAN., on 31st October 2025 when he appeared on Arise TV in Abuja. The learned Silk submitted, inter alia, that no Governor or Minister has the right to demolish any building without following the due process of law. He went on to submit that in Abuja there is a Regional and Urban Tribunal set up to determine when a house should go down in Abuja; and that the Minister cannot usurp the powers of that Tribunal. I implore you to listen to Mr. Femi Falana, SAN from the said programme, specifically from 3:33 – 07 min!
In conclusion, given the very sound legal opinion expressed by Mr. Femi Falani, SAN., on 31st October 2025, I respectfully disagree that the visit of Mr. Nyesom Wike, with several security agents and a bulldozer, to the site of the retired Chief of Naval Staff was “to enter and inspect” the property under section 11 of the Land Use Act; he went there to demolish the buildings thereon. Such action required a Court order! It cannot, therefore, be correct to say that Minister Nyesom Wike acted within his powers under Section 11 of the Land Use Act! The Naval security personnel were perfectly entitled to resist the Minister and have not violated section 11 of the Land Use Act by so doing.
Abdul-Aziz Jimoh Esq.
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