A fresh procedural battle has erupted in the long-running land ownership dispute in NICON Town Estate, Lekki, Lagos as residents and plot owners have asked a Lagos State High Court to discard the originating summons filed by Harris Dredging Limited and NICON Town Management Company Plc, NTMC.
The defendants want the case converted into a writ of summons to allow full pleadings and oral evidence.
The defendants, comprising the Incorporated Trustees of the NICON Town Residents and Plot Owners’ Association and 14 homeowners, told the court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square that the claimants’ procedure is inappropriate for a matter involving allegations of fraud, conflicting documents, disputed authority and competing historical claims.
Harris Dredging and NTMC had filed Suit LD/5141/LM/2024, seeking confirmation of Harris Dredging’s title to a 5,899.31sqm parcel of land within the estate’s Community Centre Zone and validation of a 2010 Deed of Sub-Lease registered at the Lagos State Land Registry.
Defence counsel, Adebayo Adeyemo, argued that the summons route cannot accommodate the fact-heavy dispute.
He said the court must determine whether the title documents are genuine, whether NTMC had authority to issue them, and whether allegations of fraud and misrepresentation invalidate the sublease.
But claimants’ counsel, George Oguntade, SAN, maintained that the suit is properly filed, insisting it seeks interpretation of a May 31, 2023, settlement agreement which, according to him, resolved all outstanding issues and affirmed Harris Dredging’s title.
Counsel to the first defendant, Titilola Akinlawon, SAN, countered that the claimants are ignoring a 2016 agreement that contradicts their position.
She said multiple overlapping documents and alleged inconsistencies make a full trial unavoidable.
In an affidavit, the second defendant, Adekola Balogun, said the disputed parcel forms part of the Community Centre Zone in the approved 2003 layout designated for utilities, recreation and essential services.
He stated that NTMC was incorporated in 2004, two years after major dredging and construction works by Julius Berger and P.W. Nigeria.
He added that residents had used the site, including two tennis courts, since 2005.
Balogun argued that the 2010 Deed of Sub-Lease is invalid because NTMC had no authority to sublease communal land, was not authorised by shareholders and allegedly contains fraudulent recitals.
He accused the claimants of withholding the approved layout plan.
The defendants also filed a motion seeking to disqualify Mr. Yele Delano, SAN, from representing Harris Dredging, citing conflict of interest.
They said Delano is a plot owner, a member of the Residents’ Association, a director of NTMC and the drafter of the 2016 agreement in which he allegedly recognised the land as communal.
They also claimed the change of counsel to Delano was done without the required leave of court under the Lagos High Court Civil Procedure Rules.
Responding, the Company Secretary of Harris Dredging, Okon Okon, said the company co-developed the estate with the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria.
He said tensions escalated only after residents constructed a tennis court on the land in 2011.
According to him, a 2023 settlement comprehensively resolved all disputes, recognised Harris Dredging’s title and required the company to grant major concessions, including handing the association an 800sqm plot, paying N150 million, selling another plot for their benefit, remitting N400 million and integrating residents into NTMC governance.
After hearing all submissions, Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi adjourned the matter to February 19, 2026, for ruling on the preliminary objections and on whether the case should proceed by originating summons or be converted to a writ of summons.
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