CORAM
A.O. OBASEKI, JUSTICE SUPREME COURT
A.G. KARIBI-WHITE, JUSTICE SUPREME COURT
A.G.O. AGBAJE, JUSTICE SUPREME COURT
A.B. WALI, JUSTICE SUPREME COURT
O. OLATAWURA, JUSTICE SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
ALHAJA SUARA YUSUFF
APPELLANTS
MRS. YETUNDE DADA AND ORS
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
FAMILY LAND- YORUBA CUSTOMARY LAW ON SUCCESSION- EQUITY- THE DOCTRINE OF STANDING BY – LACHES AND ACQUIESCENSE-ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATE
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The 3rd plaintiff as head of the family sold the property in dispute to the defendant when application for letters of administration of the estate of their father was pending.
HELD
The court held that the sale was invalid but that the conduct of the 3rd plaintiff in representing the capacity to sell the land and the conduct of all the plaintiffs in watching the defendant develop the property esstopped them from challenging the defendant’s title.
ISSUES
(i) whether or not upon the death of Chief J.O. Laniyonu, deceased, his eldest son, the 3rd plaintiff, Abiodun Laniyonu, would become automatically the head of Chief J.O. Laniyonu family, the family comprising only all his surviving children.
(ii) Whether the conduct of the 3rd plaintiff in joining in this action as a plaintiff to evict the defendant from the land he sold to him is not unconscionable and therefore inequitable as to vitiate this action.
(iii) What is the effect of the letters of administration issued to the plaintiffs on the sale of the deceased’s land by the 3rd plaintiff to the defendant prior to the issuance of the letters of administration?
RATIONES DECIDENDI
STATUS OF EXECUTOR PRIOR TO ISSUANCE OF LETTER OF ADMINISTRATION
‘an executor de son tort cannot, because of the estate of a person who dies intestate being vested in the probate Judge pending grant of letters of administration to that estate, make any valid disposition of the deceased’s land’. Per Agbaje J.S.C
ESTABLISHING ESTOPPEL
‘to establish the estoppels of standing by, positive assent or concurrence is unnecessary; it is enough that the party had full notice of what was being done and the position of the other party is altered’. Per Agbaje J.S.C
CASES CITED
Morayo v. Okiade 8 W.A.C.A. 46 at 47-48
Ramsden v. Dyson (1866) L.R. 1 H.L. 129
Ogunbambi v. Abowab 13 W.A.C.A. 222 at 225
STATUTES REFERRED TO
The Administration of Estate Law of Oyo
The Evidence Act