Recently, a client called me and was complaining about his tenant who occupies a 4 bedroom detached duplex somewhere in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Further to his complaints, he instructed me to evict the tenant forthwith. In my view, his complaints are based on poor communication between the Landlord and Tenant. This has made me spend my weekend writing on this subject matter to educate and enlighten us on The Rights of Landlords and Tenants in Nigeria.

Everybody in Nigeria has certain privileges and rights. These rights have been conferred on individuals by the tenancy law of each state

It is a common believe that tenants in Nigeria do not have rights as much as landlords but the fact is tenants in Nigeria have rights as much as landlords. In fact, the law in Nigeria favors the tenant than the landlord. This is because of the constant harassment and unfair treatment of tenants by landlords. There are three types of tenancies in Nigeria but the most popular type of tenancy in Nigeria is the periodic tenancy which is the topic of discussion in this article.

A Periodic tenancy is a tenancy agreement that springs from one period to another. For example, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly. The agreement of preferred period is usually between the landlord and the tenant and for each of these periods, there is a stipulated length of notice for termination that a landlord can issue to a tenant in breach of their tenancy agreement.

For a monthly tenancy agreement, the length of notice for termination is for one month. For a quarterly tenancy agreement, the length of notice for termination is for three months. For a half-yearly tenant, the length of notice for termination is also for three months. While for a yearly tenancy agreement, the length of notice for termination is for six months. A landlord can issue a Notice to Quit to a tenant falling into arrear of his rent depending on the period of tenancy agreed upon. A Notice to Quit will be invalid if, for instance, a tenant with a yearly tenancy agreement was served a Notice to Quit for a period of three months instead of six months. However, in addition to the above requirements, the landlord is also mandated to serve a seven (7) days Notice of Intention to such tenant. This was provided for in Section (13) of the Tenancy Law of Lagos State, 2011. This is to secure the tenure of tenants as well as to prevent forceful evictions.

Tenants enjoy a number of protections given by tenancy laws such as the Tenancy Law, 2011 of Lagos State, the Recovery of Premises Act and Recovery of Premises Laws of the various states in Nigeria. These laws make it is illegal and a criminal offence to forcefully evict or attempt to forcefully evict a tenant from a lawful occupation of any premises without a court order. These laws have also empowered tenant to question any increment in rent which he considers to be unnecessary, unjust or prohibitively (section 37 of the Tenancy Law of Lagos State)
Read full article here : http://www.ibejulekkilawyer.com/rights-of-landlords-and-tenants-in-nigeria-part-1/