Wright Family Declines Tenant’s Bid to Pay N60,000 Per Annum

Rebecca Ejifoma

The administrators of the estate of Regina Omoloto Wright have outrightly rejected a bid by the tenant of their Lagos Island property to pay a 1958 lease of £130 (about N60,000) per annum.

The family, represented by Adediran Thomas and Mrs. Oyinkansola Obasi (nee Thomas), contended that the annual rental value of the property as of 2016 was put at N15 million by estate valuers, but that the occupiers are insisting on paying the old rate.

The tenant, Star Properties Limited, whose directors and founders include Chief Chris Ogunbanjo, filed a suit at the Lagos State High Court. They are seeking an interpretation of the 1958 lease agreement on the property on 3, Ganiyu Smith Road, opposite St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos Island.

In their counter-affidavit, the family said the late Mrs. Wright owned the property formerly on 3, Prison Street, Lagos Island, with title number L01630. It was said to be registered with the Lagos Ministry of Lands on 16th April 1948. She also built on it.

According to the administrators in a press release it made available to THISDAY, the late Mrs. Wright signed a lease agreement with Mr Maroun Daakour on 16th June 1958 for a 99-year lease starting from 1st April 1958 at £130 per annum.

“Based on the agreement, Daakour subsequently sub-let the property to Vensimal Sawlani and Hotchand Sawlani on August 31, 1961, before Star Properties eventually took over from the Sawlanis,” says the family.

It was, however, learnt that after the original estate administrators passed on, Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Obasi were appointed as the administrators.

The statement read in part: “They briefed their lawyer to open negotiations with the applicant to seek an amicable settlement of the issues.

“The family engaged an estate valuer, Jide Taiwo & Co, which estimated the property’s unpaid rental income for 14 years (2003-2016) as N90 million,” adding that the family asked the applicant to pay half of it, but Star Properties refused the reduction and rejected the valuation report.

The administrators said when the matter could not be resolved amicably, they asked their lawyers to issue a quit notice to Star Properties partly for non-payment of rent, which as of 2016 was 14 years overdue.

Two months after the quit notice, Star Properties was said to have sent a cheque of N1,082,250. This, Star Properties noted, was supposed to cover the 14 years of unpaid rent. However, the administrators declined it.

The respondents said Star Properties did not pay the outstanding rent or move out at the expiration of the eviction.

The administrators further claimed that their lawyer had notified the tenant on 1st August 2017 of their intention to recover possession of the property, but the tenant is “still retaining possession of the landed property, and has refused to pay its rent”.

Meanwhile, in an earlier suit they filed, which is now on appeal, the family is praying the court to order Star Properties to pay the arrears of rent from March 2003 to July 2017 in the sum of N90 million and a Mesne profit from 1st August 2017 at the sum of N1,250,000 per month until possession is given up.

The administrators are also challenging that Star Properties was not a party to the original lease agreement with the late Mrs. Wright and, therefore, cannot seek to enforce it.

“There is no lease agreement between the respondents and the applicant (Star Properties),” the family said.

But, Star Properties in its suit pending before Justice Taofiquat Oyekan-Abdullahi is praying the court to hold that the quit notice issued by the family was not in accordance with the lease agreement.

The firm also said the Sawlanis transferred residue of the lease to it “with the same annual rent as agreed in the head lease”.

As noted in the statement, Star Properties told the court, “Since settlement has broken down between parties and the defendants were insisting that the unilaterally reviewed rent should be paid, the claimant in compliance with the agreed terms of the head lease issued a cheque dated 21st March 2017 in favour of the defendants for the sum of N1,082,250 calculated at £130 per annum multiplied by the current exchange rate being the rent due for the property.”

According to the Wright family, the case filed in 2017 has suffered delay due to numerous adjournments.

Although the case was to come up on February 8 this year before Justice Oyekan-Abdullahi, it was not listed for hearing.