Nigeria: Constitutional & Administrative Law

The Federal High Court's recent decision in HRM King Bubaraye Dakolo v. Shell Petroleum Development Company has reignited debate over whether limitation statutes should bar environmental claims arising from oil spills. This case examines two critical unresolved questions: whether federal or state limitation laws govern petroleum litigation, and whether ongoing oil pollution constitutes a continuing tort that suspends statutory time limits.

The Court of Appeal's decision in Rothmans of Pall Mall v. Kasmal International Services Ltd. addresses a fundamental question of procedural fairness: what happens when a trial court enters judgment without properly notifying the defendant of hearing dates?

Lagos faces a severe housing crisis with 3.4 million homes needed, but the solution is blocked not by lack of land or demand, but by Nigeria's Land Use Act of 1978. This legal framework has created a consent regime where fewer than 5% of land parcels are formally titled, leaving property owners in years-long battles to prove ownership and transforming land into "dead capital" that cannot be mortgaged or developed. The article examines how this constitutional bottleneck, combined with mortgage rates up to 28