In Abia: Federal Government And Starline Limited Battle Over Ownership Of 41-Year-Old Purchased 815 Acres Land

Starline Nigeria Limited, a cosmetics and pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Abia State, and the Federal Government of Nigeria are legally disputing the ownership of 815.76 acres of land (measuring approximately 1,651,605 square meters and 1,649,673 square meters respectively)in the Southeast state before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Starline, in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/545/2024, is seeking a reversal of a subsisting court judgment by Justice Binta Nyako, citing her alleged reliance on the concealment of material facts and alleged deceit—an assertion strongly denied by the federal government.  

Starline Nigeria Limited has listed Consolid Agro Allied Products Ltd, Mrs. Chioma Christabel Onwulata, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the Presidential Implementation Committee on Lease of Federal Government Properties, and the Nigeria Police Force as defendants in the matter. 

Land Legal Dispute 

Court documents exclusively reviewed by Nairametrics show that Starline’s lawyer, George E. Ùkaegbu Esq., on May 8, 2024, argued that his client has an interest in the disputed property at No. 10 Abak Street, GRA, Aba, Abia State, which is the subject of a previous judgment in favor of the defendants.  

Therefore, Starline claims the right to bring the suit to set aside the judgment delivered by Justice B.F.M. Nyako on January 23, 2024. 

The plaintiff asserts that it purchased the property at No. 10 Abak Street, GRA, Aba, Abia State, from the Imo State Agricultural Development Corporation through a Deed of Assignment dated March 28, 1983, which was registered as No. 44 at page 44 in volume 272 of the Lands Deed Registry Office in Owerri, Imo State (now Umuahia, Abia State). 

The plaintiff claims that since purchasing the property in 1983, it has been in peaceful and quiet occupation and possession until April 3, 2024, when the defendants purported to execute a subsisting judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1252/2023. 

The plaintiff further submitted that after the purchase of No. 10 Abak Street, GRA, Aba, Abia State, it applied for and was issued a Statutory Certificate of Occupancy by the then Imo State Government on August 6, 1986, which was registered as No. 24 at page 24 in volume 151 of the Lands Deed Registry Office in Owerri, Imo State (now Umuahia, Abia State). 

“The plaintiff avers that, in furtherance of its ownership and peaceful and quiet occupation of No. 10 Abak Street, GRA, Aba, Abia State, it mortgaged the property in favor of Diamond Bank Limited for a loan, which was subsequently paid back, and the property was released to it by Access Bank Plc, which had acquired Diamond Bank Limited at the time the plaintiff repaid the loan,” it added. 

He stated that Consolid and the federal government were aware of its ownership of the land, having fulfilled the due diligence associated with its acquisition, but was asked to leave the property citing a court judgment in Abuja, which he believes lacked the jurisdiction to preside over a land dispute arising from Abia State. 

He requested Justice Inyang Ekwo to quash Justice Nyako’s judgment, set aside all steps and processes taken by the defendants in executing the judgment, and restrain them from taking further steps in implementing the judgment. 

He also sought N100,000,000.00 in general damages against Consolid and the second defendants for the inconvenience, distress, and embarrassment caused to the plaintiff through Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1252/2023. 

What the FG Is Saying 

In a statement of defense filed by Maimuna Lami Shiru (Mrs.) on September 12, 2024, on behalf of the federal government, she argued that the plaintiff does not possess the requisite legal right to sue, making it unnecessary to consider whether it has a genuine case on the merits. 

She explained that the property in question belongs to the federal government, not to the Abia State Government from whom the plaintiff claims to have purchased the property. 

She referenced Section 49 (1) of the Land Use Act, 1978, which provides that “nothing in the Act shall affect any title to land, whether developed or undeveloped, held by the Federal Government or any agency of the Federal Government at the commencement of the Act; accordingly, any such land shall continue to vest in the Federal Government or the agency concerned.” She noted that No. 10A and 10B Abak Street, G.R.A., Aba, Abia North Local Government Area of Abia State, measuring approximately 1,651,605 square meters and 1,649,673 square meters respectively, belong to the federal government. 

She clarified that federal government properties in the Government Reserved Areas (GRAs) of Abia State and indeed all states of the federation belong to the federal government, which retains title to them until disposed off according to the law or regulations by the appropriate federal government agency. 

She asked the court to hold that any allocation of federal government land properties in any state of the federation not made by the Presidential Implementation Committee on Lease of Federal Government Properties is null and void, and that any development thereon without approval from the Ministry of Works and Housing is also illegal. 

She stated that when the federal government noticed that the plaintiff was illegally occupying its property, it served the company with a Notice to Quit and intention to recover its property on March 9, 2020. 

She claimed there was no misrepresentation in the processes filed before Justice Nyako by Consolid, as the leasing of the property was between the federal government and Consolid and another defendant only, which was affirmed in the judgment. 

She stressed that the property belongs to the federal government, not the Imo State Government or the Abia State Government. 

Shiru argued that even though the plaintiff stated it purchased the property from the then Imo State Government (now Abia State Government), the state governor lacks the power to superintend and administer lands vested in the federal government within the state’s territory, adding that such lands are excluded from the powers and control of the governor. 

“The plaintiff has only succeeded in heaping up claims on worthless papers, which it termed ‘writ of summons,’ to waste the time of this court when it does not have standing to institute this action challenging the competency of Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1252/2023,” she added. 

She prayed the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety with punitive costs against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendants, alleging that it is frivolous, incompetent, a gross abuse of court process, and lacking in merit. 

Nairametrics gathered that the court will preside over the matter at a later date. 

The Federal High Court is one of the courts of first instance that presides over civil cases like land disputes. 

The court is asked to interpret the applications of several relevant laws on land acquisition.