By GUARDIAN
The Supreme Court has given Lagos State government and the Shangsha Landlords Association till November 6, 2023 to settle out of court the lingering Magodo Estate crisis.
The apex court had earlier entered judgment in favour of the landlords association and awarded 549 plots of lands in the already built Magodo Estate to them after 38 years of legal battle.
Consequently, the body sought to execute the judgment late last year, before the embarrassed Lagos State government approached the Supreme Court again to seek clarification and directives on the decision.
When the matter came up at the Supreme Court last month, counsel to the Lagos State Government sought for settlement of the matter out of court.
Counsel to the Shangisha Landlord Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that the state government had told them that they want the matter to be settled out of court.
Based on that, the Supreme Court gave the parties till November 6, 2023 to settle and report with evidence of settlement.
Following the decision, the chairman of the Association, Chief Adebayo Adeyiga, through a letter to Wole Olanipekun & Co., reminded the firm that in the settlement deal, the firm should note that the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the matter, is clear and unambiguous.
“The judgment asked the Lagos State government to give 549 plots of land to the Shangsha Landlord Association whose houses and buildings were demolished between 1954 and 1985 in Shangisha Magodo Scheme 2, if possible close to their former buildings.
“This judgment was ratified by the court of Appeal in 1996 and by the Supreme Court on February 10, 2012. For all the years, the Lagos State government had turned deaf-ears to obey the judgment.
“What the Lagos Government needs to do now is to collate that 549 plots and issue a global certificate of occupancy in the name of Chief Adebayo Adeyiga and that has always been our position and it remains so.
“Finally, the Lagos State government and the Shangsha Landlord Association will sit down and work out a compensation of probably N50 million to each landlord to rebuild their building,” he informed the law firm.