Supreme Court voids parts of the NIWA Act and affirms State control of waterfront land

The Supreme Court has delivered a constitutional judgment limiting Federal power over land adjoining Nigeria's inland waterways. The Court declared sections 12 and 13 of the National Inland Waterways Authority Act unconstitutional and restrained the Federal Government from exercising control over those adjoining lands, affirming that the States retain control for non-navigational purposes.

The practical significance is not abstract. A great deal of valuable Lagos and Ogun land sits close to water, and the question of which authority may grant, regulate or charge for it has produced years of overlapping demands on developers — sometimes two sets of approvals and two sets of fees for the same parcel.

For owners and developers, the judgment strengthens the argument that title and regulatory dealings for such land run through the State. It does not, however, remove the Authority's legitimate role in navigation itself, and it does not cure defects in a chain of title. Anyone holding a waterfront parcel should read this as a reason to re-examine their documents, not as a licence to build.

Where clients have paid Federal charges on land the Court has now placed within State control, or have been stopped by conflicting approvals, there may be room to revisit the position. We are reviewing those files as they come in.