"With all My worldly possessions I thee wed": Nigerian courts and the exercise of discretionary justice in property ownership disputes in marriage and divorce. Issue 1 (2nd January 2020) - Adekile, Oluwakemi Mary
Abstract : The question of title to property between married couples remains intractable in Nigeria's social context. Ownership is addressed by Nigerian courts in a discretionary framework devoid of a cohesive conceptualization. By reviewing cases in Nigeria and England the paper finds that the exercise of discretionary justice is a 'cold legal question' and defective in granting a realistic outcome. A different approach is germane to achieve justice in family law. It concludes that the extant judicial approach is at variance with the marital vow 'with all my worldly possessions I thee wed' which imports unity of assets in the social psyche of parties.