Lagos State Government has approached the Supreme Court to seek clarification on the judgment delivered by the apex court on the ownership of the Shangisha/Magodo land.
Gbenga Omotoso, Lagos Commissioner for Information, in a statement on Friday, disclosed that the move to approach the apex court followed the failure of landlords to reach a consensus on how the certificates of occupancy on the plot of lands allocated to Shangisha landlords would be issued.
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The statement is titled, ‘Update on settlement of Supreme Court judgment on Shangisha/Magodo.’
Omotoso added that both parties explored the possibility of complying with the court judgment.
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He stated;
Following the intervention of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, officials of the State Government and representatives of the Shangisha Landlords Association (the judgment creditors) held a series of meetings at which both parties explored the possibility of complying with the judgment of the Supreme Court.
At the said meetings two issues arose: there was a serious division among the judgment creditors as to who controlled or had the right to represent the association; and the demand by the judgment creditors that a single global Certificate of Occupancy should.
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It added;
Given the sharp divide between the two factions of the judgment creditors on who has authority to represent the Association and the disagreement regarding whom the certificate of occupancy should be issued (collectively or individually), the State Government has approached the Supreme Court to seek further directives and clarifications on both issues.
Recall that Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, while wading into the dispute in January disclosed that he ordered the police to invade the estate to enforce Supreme Court’s judgement.
Malami, in a statement by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu, noted the controversy ensued over a failure of the Lagos government to follow through with a Supreme Court judgment.
Malami stated that he was displeased with “the South-West governor’s unjustifiable insinuation of impunity against the office of the attorney general over (the) execution of a judgment of the Supreme Court.”
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However, the Lagos state government in January disclosed that it had reached an agreement with the landlords on a settlement plan after the Supreme court ordered it to give some landlords 549 plots of land as a “matter of first priority” following the demolition of their properties at Shangisha.
The race for possession of Magodo began in 1988 when Shangisha Landlord Association challenged the Lagos government.
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After multiple proceedings at the high court, the appeal court and the Supreme Court, it was ruled that members of the association should be given 549 plots of land in the area.
