REYNOLDS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY NIGERIA LIMITED V. ROCKONOH PROPERTIES COMPANY LIMITED

OGUNTADE JSC (Delivering the Lead Judgment): The dispute leading to this appeal arose from a landlord and tenant relationship. The respondent was the plaintiff at the Enugu High Court. It owned an estate consisting of several buildings in Enugu. It leased several of these buildings to the defendant, a foreign construction company. There were three lease agreements covering the 24 properties leased. The first agreement dated 1/11/79 covered 12 semi-detached buildings; the second dated 1/9/80 covered 6 semi-detached buildings and the third dated 1/3/80 covered six bungalow units. The estate is at Rockonoh Estate, Ekulu West extension, G.R.A., Enugu. In respect of the buildings covered by the first agreement, the agreed rent was N102,000.00 per annum at N8,500.00 per unit. For the buildings covered by the second agreement, the agreed rent was N54,000 per annum at N9,000 per unit; and the rent for the third set of building was N36,000,000.00 per annum at N6,000.00 per unit.

The pla…