DOCTRINE OF PRIORITY OF ESTATE AND ITS APPLICATION TO SPECIFIC STATUTORY LAND TRANSACTIONS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The priority rule of “qui prior est temporal portier jure” which literarily means “he who is first in time is stronger in Law” (otherwise known as the “temporal Order Rule”) has limited application to competition among land instruments under the doctrine of estate. The doctrine of estate relates to title to or interest in land and the general requirement of the law, is that, every instrument relating to land must be registered. One of the consequences of such registration is to preserve priority among competing land instrument, since the rule is that, every registered instrument affecting land takes effect against other instrument affecting the same land from the date of its registration. This means, the order of creation of the instruments i.e. “Temporal Order Rule” has been circumvented by the requirement of registration of instrument affecting land. This paper therefore, examines the doctrine of priority of estate and its application to specific statutory land transaction in Nigeria. The paper further discusses the exceptions to the general rule of priority on land dispositions and considers if in appropriate circumstances, the order of registration will not give way for the order of creation. The paper also finds, that the “Temporal Order Rule” as it is literarily understood have been circumvented by the order of registration. The paper also finds that the undue importance attached to land instrument registration is for the economic benefit of government at the expense of justice fairness. Consequently, the paper recommends that the rule of priority relating to land instrument be amended to reflect that priority of competing instruments affecting land should be determined by the date of creation of the instrument particularly when it is backed by possession rather that the date of registration or as the overall interest of justice requires in every circumstance.