Aggrieved residents and plot owners in the disputed NICON Town Estate in Lekki, Lagos, have asked the state High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square to reject the originating summons filed by Harris Dredging Limited and the NICON Town Management Company (NTMC) Plc. 

The defendants prayed the court to convert the suit into a writ of summons to enable 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 that the claimants’ chosen procedure was inappropriate for a matter involving allegations of fraud, conflicting documents, disputed authority, and competing historical ownership claims.

They argued that an originating summons was unsuitable for a dispute “riddled with allegations of fraud, disputed documents, questionable authority, and conflicting historical ownership claims.”

Harris Dredging and NTMC, in suit LD/5141/LM/2024, are seeking judicial affirmation of Harris Dredging’s ownership of a 5,899.31 sqm parcel of land located within the estate’s Community Centre Zone, as well as validation of a 2010 deed of sub-lease registered at the Lagos Land Registry.

Counsel to the defendants, Adebayo Adeyemo, insisted that the dispute contains “sharply contested facts” that cannot be resolved through affidavit evidence alone. 

Mr Adeyemo argued that the court must examine the legitimacy of the claimants’ title documents, NTMC’s authority to issue them, and allegations of fraud and misrepresentation. 

He added that Supreme Court precedents make originating summons inappropriate in such complex matters.

However, in a counter-motion, counsel to the claimants, George Oguntade (SAN), maintained that the case was primarily a request for interpretation of a May 31, 2023 settlement agreement signed by all parties.

According to Mr Oguntade, the defendants cannot back out of a duly executed agreement.

But counsel for the first defendant, Titilola Akinlawon (SAN), disagreed, pointing to an earlier 2016 agreement that contradicts the claimants’ position.

Ms Akinlawon said the web of conflicting documents makes a full trial unavoidable.

In a detailed affidavit, the second defendant, Adekola Balogun, stated that the disputed plot falls within the estate’s Community Centre Zone, earmarked in the approved 2003 layout for utilities, recreation, green areas, and public facilities.

Mr Balogun said residents had used the land – including two Olympic-sized tennis courts – since 2005.

He also argued that NTMC, incorporated in 2004, neither owned nor developed the estate and therefore had no legal authority to issue the 2010 sub-lease, which he described as “unauthorised and fraudulent.”

He accused the claimants of withholding the official layout plan because it undermines their claims.

The defendants further filed a motion seeking to disqualify Yele Delano (SAN), counsel to Harris Dredging, on grounds of conflict of interest. 

They said Mr Delano is simultaneously a plot owner, a member of the residents’ association (a defendant), a director of NTMC (a claimant), and the drafter of the contentious 2016 agreement – making him a potential witness and therefore disqualified under legal ethics rules.

Responding, Harris Dredging’s Company Secretary, Okon Okon, said the firm co-developed the estate, stating that disputes only escalated after residents constructed a tennis court on the land in 2011.

Mr Okon maintained that the 2023 settlement conclusively resolved all issues, but a minority faction later mobilised opposition and triggered litigation.

After hearing arguments from the parties, Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi adjourned the matter until February 19, 2026, to rule on the preliminary objections and determine whether the suit will proceed by originating summons or be converted to a full trial.