A legal contractual document was leaked to the general public last week and it trended across social media channels.
The content of the document is the Political Agreement/ arrangements by some top political officials of Ogun state to share political slots and political positions amongst themselves and between their allies.
What the lawyer that prepared this document failed to point out to them is that the contract is void abinitio and can never be ratified or enforced in any court of law peradventure there is a breach of it by any of the contracting parties because such a contract is repugnant to public policy.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 14 (June 3 – Sept 2, 2024) begins registrations; get massive discounts with early registration here.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
A void contract, therefore, is a contract that is not legally enforceable, starting from the time it was created. It is illegal and invalid and cannot be enforced in any court of law due to its illegality. A void contract is totally null and the contract cannot be ratified by either the contracting parties or the court.
A legal agreement between top office holders of a state on how slots and positions should be shared amongst them and amongst their protégés is totally illegal and void and such a contract if/ when there is a breach cannot be enforced in any court of law.
For a contract to have the backing of the law, it must be legal, and valid, the contracting parties must be of statutory age and they must be of sound mind as of the time they are entering into the contract. Anything other than this, the contract becomes voidable or void abinitio.
In a legal sense, a void contract is treated as if it was never created and becomes unenforceable in court.
Outside legality as a sacrosanct feature of a valid contract, other features that must be present for a contract to be valid and enforceable include; Offer, Acceptance, Awareness, Consideration, and Capacity.