Appellant (a statutory corp.) advertised the sale at houses being built by it in Onitsha. Respondent in December, 1978 applied for the sale of one to him.

Appellant made an offer of sale to respondent for the selling price of N40,000 payable in 4 equal installments within 6 months. Respondent accepted and paid the first installment of N10,000. He did not pay the balance (N30,000) as agreed.

Appellant wrote respondent giving him three months to pay balance. He then paid N5,000 as part payment of the 2nd installment with a promise to pay another N5,000 in one week. The promise was not honoured thus appellant wrote to him that failure to pay the 2nd installment balance within 30 days will lead to the house being re-allocated. He paid another N5,000 on 2/4/80. After completing payment of 50%, appellant executed a deed of sublease of the property in favour of the respondent. It was registered but appellant kept both original and duplicates pending completion of payment by respondent.

In November, 1981, appellant wrote asking the respondent to pay the balance of N20,000 within 3 weeks otherwise it would be assumed that the allocation would be cancelled. Respondent did not respond.

Then by a letter of 7/4/82, the Federal Mortgage Bank, Enugu on behalf of the respondent wrote that the respondent had applied for a mortgage from the bank to enable him pay for the property.

Appellant wrote back stating that the plot had been re-allocated to another purchaser on full payment and they forwarded a UBA Cheque on 25/5/82 for N20,000 as full refund of the 50% deposit paid by respondent. He accepted the refund.

Respondents then threatened to sue appellant and this necessitated the appellant to file an action in the High Court in order to set aside the deed of sublease executed and registered in respondent's favour.

The Court dismissed appellants case on the grounds that the execute of title deeds by the parties conferred absolute title on the respondent and that the only relief open to appellant was to sue for the balance of the purchase price. Appellant's appeal to the court of Appeal was dismissed. They went to the Supreme Court.