Springtop Chambers

31/10/2025

Joint Ownership of Business and Property

When you want to sign, buy, invest in a business or property with your spouse, friend, siblings or colleagues/partners, you must think ahead of the future implication and consequences it will have on you. In view of that you must take note of the following factors.

1. To sign joint ownership together with spouse, friends, siblings or colleagues/partners, try to let your spouse, friends, siblings and colleagues/partners know their limitations and boundaries whether you have the higher share or investment or not.

2. Don't rush to sign that joint ownership but quickly contact a lawyer from the beginning even before you sign the joint ownership with your spouse, friends, siblings and colleagues/partners.

3. You need to know and confirm who will survive the business or property investments after death, that's the idea of "survivorship" in joint ownership which must be documented with a lawyer.

4. You need to know and confirm the ratio by which the benefits and profits will be shared with you and those you want to inherit your own share of the joint ownership business and property investment which must be documented with a lawyer.

5. Don't lose your personal or family business and property to anyone all in the name of doing and signing joint ownership whether through Joint business/property venture deal, Joint Tenancy or Tenancy in Common or any other form of joint ownership.

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10/07/2025

DON'T BUY THAT PROPERTY WITHOUT YOUR LAWYER'S AWARENESS.
One of the ways to acquire property safely is to engage a lawyer to guide you on conducting proper search and do due diligence. It saddens that many people are now passionate to rush and buy land or a building before calling to involve a lawyer to only prepare legal documents for them. That's wrong and risky.
However, the fair thing such lawyer can do is to ask if you have personally conducted proper search and due diligence to know whether the property is not encumbered or has issues. If you lie and say you have done the needful, such Lawyer would not be held responsible for preparing the document if you later have issues on that property since you have refused to tell the Lawyer the truth.
So, why must you wait till after you acquire a property before you engage the service of your lawyer?
I know someone who acquired a land, developed and built a house on it and after many years, the sellers came back and deny selling such land to him.
Upon further enquiry, it was discovered that there was no legal land Agreement document to show that the man truly bought the land from the same sellers. Confused, he failed to see a lawyer for legal advice to save him and was forced to pay another money for that land against his interest.
Don't be like that man. Consult your lawyer on everything on property acquisition for peace and safety over your hard earned properties.
You need further explanation/help?
Kindly send a DM or call 08068151286

09/11/2023

As a Partner at Springtop Chambers, one of my core areas of specialization is being established as a Property Lawyer.
I help property owners to avoid land disputes and future property problems.
I serve to protect the interest of occupiers and owners of properties against any adverse claims and land grabbers.
I provide legal solutions to recover properties that have been wrongly taken over by know and unknown persons or occupiers.
I help intending buyers and sellers of property to have a valid legal documents to protect their interests.
I also offer legal advices, consultation services and help people manage their properties to maximize their income and wealth.

You need help?
Kindly send a direct message to me or contact 08068151286 (WhatsApp).

01/09/2023

My name is Tope Ayangunna. I am a Legal Practitioner and I am the Principal Partner at Tope Ayangunna & Co. (Springtop Chambers). I specialized in Corporate and Real Estate (Property) law practice. I also engage in Business and Family Laws and some other Civil matters.
My area of specialization cut across Registration of Businesses and Company incorporation, NGOs, Cooperatives/Unions, Churches, Schools', Trustees, Corporate governance, Mergers and Acquisition, Contract Law, Intellectual Property, Drafting of property documents such as Power of Attorney, Lease/Tenancy Agreement, Contract of Sale, Deed of Assignment, Deed of Transfer/Conveyance, Writing of Wills, Lettes of Administration, Probate Matters among others.

I welcome you to the Month of September and I pray that God will bless and see us through successfully.

Happy New Month!

30/08/2023

HOW TO RELOCATE ABROAD WITH A CHILD BORN OUTSIDE WEDLOCK TO ANOTHER MAN OR WOMAN OR A CHILD WHOSE BIOLOGICAL PARENTS ARE NO LONGER LIVING TOGETHER AS HUSBAND AND WIFE.
WHY YOU MUST TAKE THE NECESSARY LEGAL STEPS TO AVOID COMPLICATIONS.

You are with a child born outside wedlock to another man or woman or you have a child (in your full custody & guardianship) whose either biological parents are no longer living together as husband and wife and you want to relocate to a country outside Nigeria. It's okay. But, now that you want to go with your child, you noticed you have a problem, that is, you are not sure that the father or mother of your child will allow you to travel with your child, probably because either parents are not accessible.
Meanwhile, since the child is living with you, this should have been easy for you to do but there are three major obstacles you are facing. Firstly, you cannot get a passport for your child without the consent of the other parent (who is or are not accessible). Secondly, if the child is a minor, most embassies will not give visa to a minor child without the consent of the other biological parent of the child who may be required to show up with his ID (except it is proved beyond every possibility of doubt that the child's parents have died). Thirdly, at the airport, the immigration authority will not clear you to board the flight with a child unless you are traveling with the other parent or you have a consent letter from the other parent. And, even with a consent letter, they will still call the other parent to confirm. So, the biological father or mother of your child can really frustrate you without doing or saying anything to help.
If you are faced with this kind of challenge, there is a way to get around it than getting a mere Affidavit of change of name for the child.

You need help?
Send a direct message to me via WhatsApp 08068151286

23/08/2023

One of the funniest things I've heard as a business lawyer is that registration of your Company/Organisation or business name to obtain CAC Certificate or Money Lender's Certificate alone are all the legal need of a small business (or SMEs), Corporate Organisations, Associations or Cooperatives who are into the business of selling products & services, money transactions, lending monies and debts recovery. No, there's more to that.

Having a proper legal foundation, support and remedies to avoid financial loss/risks are the bedrock of any successful business of selling products & services, money transactions, money lending and debts recovery and believe me, there are a whole lot of legal logistics to be checked when it comes to the legal aspect of your business.

Except you want to continue playing small to suffer financial loss and risks, I've never seen a great business without having a solid legal foundation, support and remedy to sustain growth and relevance.

Ready to set up a proper legal foundation, support and remedy for your business beyond CAC registrations and/or Money Lending registrations?

Send a DM now or via WhatsApp 08068151286

02/05/2023

PILLARS NIG. LTD. Vs. WILLIAMS DESBORDES & ANOR (2021) LCN/4973 (SC) (Suit No. SC/105/2010).

ISSUE: ON IRREGULAR NOTICE TO QUIT
-Effect of service of an irregular notice to quit; remedy on service of a Writ.

PRINCIPLE:
Even if the initial notice to quit was irregular, the minute the Writ of Summons dated 13th May, 1993 for repossession was served on the Appellant, it served as adequate notice.
"Equity demands that wherever there is controversy on when or how notice of forfeiture or notice to quit is disputed by the parties, or even where there is irregularity in giving notice to quit, the filing of an action by the landlord to regain possession of the property has to be sufficient notice on the tenant, that is required to yield up possession".
"While statutory notice may be given as the situation requires (whatever form the periodic tenancy is, whether weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly etc.), immediately a Writ is filed to regain possession, the irregularity of the Notice, if any, is cured. Time to give notice, should start to run from the date the Writ is served.
If for example, a yearly tenant, six months after the Writ is served and so on, all the dance drama around the issue of irregularity of Notice, ends thereby.

For more explanation, kindly send DM +2348068151286 (WhatsApp)

20/01/2023

21/12/2022

*Issue*
LABOUR LAW - COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT -

*_The position of the law where collective agreement is incorporated in the conditions of a contract of service_*

*Principles*

"Generally, the document which regulates the relationship between an employer and employee is the service agreement or the contract of service and not a collective agreement.
But that is not all to it.
A collective agreement, standing alone is not binding on an individual employee and the employer unless such a collective agreement is incorporated into the contract of service or adopted as part of the contract or condition of service. See A.C.B. v. Nwodika (Supra); Union Bank Ltd. v. Edet (Supra); Shuaibu v. Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (1995) 4 N.W.L.R. (pt.388) 173. The Supreme Court in the case of Dr. Ben O. Chukwumah v. Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nig. Ltd. (1993) 4 NWLR (Pt.288) 512 held that an extraneous agreement, not entered into by the parties to a contract of service, cannot be made the basis of an action by an employee unless it is incorporated into the contract of service of such employee. In the instant case, the issue under consideration is whether the Court below was right to hold that the Collective Agreement i.e. Exhibit 'E' was binding on the Appellant and Respondent herein. The learned trial Judge after reviewing all the exhibits tendered including Exhibit 'E' the said Collective Agreement, said on page 141 - 142 of the Record of Appeal as follows: "When Exhibits A, K, E, and F are taken together, I have no doubt in my mind that they are all relevant and constitute the contract and other documents consisting of rules and regulations which are binding on the parties to the contract".

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04/12/2022

LEGAL ISSUES ON ACCIDENTAL EFFECT:
1. Whether or not a person can be lawfully held responsible for causing an accident.
2. Nature of an accidental effect and what it entails.

The general principle is that an effect will be accidental when the act by which it is caused is not done with the intention of causing it and when its occurrence is so unexpected that a person of ordinary prudence would not be against such occurrence.
Moreover, the act leading to an accident must be a lawful act done in a lawful manner.

The law is settled in the provision of Section 24 of Criminal Code which states thus:-
"Subject to the express provision of this Code relating to negligent acts and omissions, a person is not primarily responsible for an act or omission, which occurs independently of the exercise of his will or for an act which occur by accident".

In the case of BELLO vs. A.G OYO STATE (1986) 5 NWLR (Pt. 45) 828 at pg. 502, in giving meaning to accident in law, the Court held that:-
"The expression, 'an event which occurs by accident' used in Section 24 of the Criminal Code connotes an event totally unexpected by the doer of the act and also not reasonably to be expected by any reasonable person".

Hence, it can be concluded that an accident is the result of an unwilled act and means of an event without the fault of the person alleged to have caused it. Except a person caused an accident willingly and intentionally and such is proved beyond reasonable doubts, such person could be held responsible.