PLURALISTIC NATURE OF LAWS AND SUCCESSION MATTERS IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Succession law is about the methods of distributing property of a deceased person while devolution of deceased’s properties depended upon whether deceased had a Will or not. Where the deceased had made a Will, the property devolved according to his dictate.  If no Will existed, his property devolved according to the customary law applicable.  Therefore, the study examined conflict as a result of pluralism of laws in the area of succession and considered available options towards achieving a single system of law. Findings indicated that different legal systems governed succession in South-west, Nigeria and conflicted with one another.  It revealed that pluralistic nature of laws of succession in South-west, Nigeria had created uncertainty in legal administration. Furthermore, this nature of laws of succession created problems for appropriate and applicable choice of law, thereby caused miscarriage of justice. The paper disclosed that rules of succession in South-west, Nigeria in some occasions favoured only male gender and it discriminated against widows of customary law marriage. This paper concluded that unification, integration, harmonization and legal transplant of laws of succession is a viable means to eliminating the conflicts associated with pluralism of laws of succession in the six states of South-west, Nigeria.