By Titus Eleweke, Editor, South East
AWKA, Anambra – There is growing panic and tension in Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, following a legal action instituted by Engr. Hon. Sir Humphrey Nsofor against Sir Vincent Dike, the President-General of the Oraifite Improvement Union (OIU), over the alleged unlawful suspension of approvals for new commercial development projects within the community.
Engr. Nsofor, through his solicitors, I. C. Ejiofor & Co., Legal Practitioners, filed the action at the High Court of Anambra State, Nnewi Judicial Division, challenging a public announcement dated 18 September 2025, which was issued and widely circulated by Sir Vincent Dike in his capacity as President-General of the OIU.
In the said announcement, Sir Dike allegedly unilaterally proclaimed a suspension of all approvals for new commercial development projects in Oraifite.
In the originating processes, Engr. Nsofor contended that the President-General of the Oraifite Improvement Union lacks the constitutional, statutory, or legal authority to enact, proclaim, or enforce any directive capable of regulating land use or development activities within the community.
He maintained that no town union, communal association, or its officers possess the power to impose development bans or issue directives binding on residents, investors, contractors, or government agencies.
The suit, No. HN/409/2025, asserts that all matters relating to land administration, development control, physical planning, and approval of building or commercial projects are, by law, vested exclusively in the Governor of Anambra State, acting through the Anambra State Ministry of Physical and Urban Planning and other duly constituted statutory bodies.
This authority, he argued, is derived from the Land Use Act, Cap L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, as well as relevant Anambra State planning and development legislation.
According to the claimant, the impugned announcement has already triggered serious and far-reaching consequences within Oraifite.
He stated that contractors have abandoned project sites, financiers have reviewed or withdrawn funding commitments, and investors and residents alike have been plunged into uncertainty and apprehension.
“These disruptions are not speculative,” Engr. Nsofor averred, “but are direct, foreseeable, and continuing consequences of an unlawful, ultra vires, and provocative proclamation that has no foundation in law.”
He further contended that the announcement, if allowed to subsist, amounts in substance to a forceful and unlawful assumption of control over communal and privately held land, as well as an unauthorised interference with proprietary interests, achieved not through lawful processes but by executive fiat.
Engr. Nsofor described the action as a grave affront to the rule of law, warning that it represents an unconstitutional encroachment on proprietary rights guaranteed under Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which affirms the right of every citizen to acquire and own immovable property in any part of Nigeria.
“Such conduct,” he argued, “sets a dangerous precedent capable of crippling lawful development, private enterprise, and sustainable economic growth within Oraifite, while undermining confidence in legally established institutions of governance.”
Statement reads in full:
The attention of the public is respectfully drawn to a pending legal action instituted at the High Court of Nnewi, in Suit No: HN/409/2025 by Engr. Hon. Sir Humphrey Nsofor, a distinguished engineer of national repute, former Majority Leader of the Anambra State House of Assembly, and a highly respected son of Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.
This action, filed on his behalf by his solicitors, I. C. EJIOFOR & CO., Legal Practitioners, arises from a “public announcement” dated 18th September 2025, issued and circulated by Sir Vincent Dike, the President-General of the Oraifite Improvement Union (OIU). In the said announcement, he unilaterally proclaimed a suspension of all approvals for new commercial development projects within Oraifite, allegedly pending the formulation of an “Oraifite Land Use Policy,” and further insinuated t hat the Anambra State Ministry of Physical and Urban Planning had been urged to halt statutory approvals in deference to this directive.
For the avoidance of doubt and in the interest of public clarity, no town union, communal association, or its President-General possesses any constitutional, statutory, or legal authority whatsoever to regulate land use, suspend development approvals, or issue directives binding on the Anambra State Government or any of its agencies. All matters relating to land administration, development control, and planning approvals are, by law, vested exclusively in the Governor of Anambra State, acting through the Anambra State Ministry of Physical and Urban Planning and other duly constituted statutory bodies, pursuant to the Land Use Act and relevant state legislation.
Engr. Hon. Sir Humphrey Nsofor is the lawful owner of land situate at his ancestral home in Oraifite, part of which is being earmarked for legitimate commercial development, but is presently threatened by this unlawful declaration by the President-General of the Oraifite Improvement Union.
He has commenced lawful processes toward securing statutory approvals from the appropriate government authorities.
However, the impugned announcement has already precipitated grave consequences: contractors have downed tools, financiers have reviewed or withdrawn funding commitments, and investors, as well as residents, have been plunged into uncertainty. These disruptions are not speculative; they are direct and foreseeable consequences of an unlawful, ultra vires, and provocative proclamation.
More troublingly, Engr. Nsofor contends that the said announcement, if left unchecked, amounts in substance to a forceful occupation, unlawful control, and unauthorised alienation of communal and private land, achieved not by law, but by fiat. Such conduct constitutes a grave affront to the rule of law, an unconstitutional encroachment upon proprietary rights guaranteed under Section 43 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and a dangerous precedent capable of crippling lawful development, private enterprise, and economic growth within Oraifite.
It is for these compelling reasons, and not as a matter of publicity or public agitation, that the Plaintiff, acting strictly through due process, has approached the High Court for redress. The reliefs sought include, inter alia, declaratory and injunctive orders mandating the immediate withdrawal of the unlawful announcement, restraining any further interference with statutory planning and development processes, and affirming that only constitutionally and legally empowered government authorities may regulate land use and development approvals in Anambra State.
This action is not borne out of personal interest alone. It is a principled effort to protect the collective rights of law-abiding landowners, developers, and investors in Oraifite, and to reaffirm the supremacy of the law over arbitrary, self-help measures and unauthorised communal proclamations.
Engr. Hon. Sir Humphrey Nsofor remains steadfastly committed to due process, lawful development, and the sustainable socio-economic advancement of Oraifite. He respectfully calls on all stakeholders to remain calm, to eschew acts capable of undermining constituted authority, and to allow the Court, the proper arbiter in a constitutional democracy, to determine the issues placed before it.
