Title of the Article: Trustees’ Liability and Beneficiaries Rights under the Trustee Investment Act: Prospects and Challenges
Author
S.A. Osamolu, LL.B (Hons.) (Ibad.), LL.M (Unilag) B.L, Deputy Director (Academics) and Head , Corporate Law Practice Department, Nigerian Law School, Bwari – FCT.
Abstract
The contribution of the Law of Trusts to the growth of global commerce is quite profound. Whenever a Trust is created, the trustee is saddled with enormous responsibility by the relevant statute or the contractual document. The Trustee Investment Act (TIA) was first enacted as an Ordinance in 1918 but the current Act came into force on May 23, 1957. The salutary task embarked upon by the Nigerian Law Reform Commission to reform or review the TIA is, to say the least, Herculean. The popularity enjoyed by the TIA in other legislation cross-referencing it in terms of the power to investment Trust fund is, perhaps, next only to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This fame is however overwhelmed by the cursory nature of its provision on issues one may consider as core subject of the Act. One of such is the liabilities of a trustee as well as the distinct right of beneficiaries under the Act. This paper will examine the concept of trust as well as the basis for a trustee’s liability. We shall also briefly consider the scope of a trustee’s liability at common law and under selected Nigerian statutes. We shall attempt to highlight obvious prospects and challenges of the Act. We will conclude with a proposal for urgent reform which may require the presentation of a new Bill in place of the one currently before the National Assembly (NASS).