’32-Year Old Tenancy Law In Imo Is Obsolete, Inoperative’ As Lawyer Calls For Amendment
Members of the Imo State House of Assembly (IMHA) has been called upon to revise and amend the laws regulating tenancy relationships in Imo State.
This call was made recently in Owerri by Barr. Emperor Iwuala a private legal practitioner.
While briefing journalists in his law in Owerri, Barr. Iwuala lamented on the inadequacies of the tenancy laws in the state stating that the last time the law was amended in the state was on 12thday of June, 1985 when the then Military Administrator of the state Brig. Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd.) issued the Rent Control and Recovery of premises Edict of 1985.
‘It is very unfortunate that thirty-two years after the promulgation of the Rent Control and Recovery of premises Edict of 1985 and sixteen years in the present democratic dispensation, the Imo State House of Assembly has not deemed it fit to update the tenancy laws in Imo State. For example, the Rent Control and Recovery of premises Edict of 1985 still claims to apply in the present day Abia State and some towns in Ebonyi State. This is an irony. This is a law that stipulates that the maximum rent for a three-bedroom Flat in Owerri is ninety naira. Our law-makers are not working.
‘Therefore, because of the increasing complex nature of tenancy relationships in the state and the dynamism of the present day society, the law needs to be revised, amended and updated to be in tune with the current realities on ground…’, Iwuala said.
Continuing, the lawyer cum journalist said that the Uwajumogu-led legislature promised the state a revised tenancy law in the state but that feat was not achieved before the end of that legislature.
Therefore, the courageous activist enjoined members of the IMHA, lawyers, the state Attorney-General, the Chief Judge and the Nigerian Bar Association and all stakeholders in the administration of justice in the state to ensure that the tenancy laws and all other obsolete laws in the state were amended.