Nigeria Case Law

Introduction Two lawsuits, one mortgaged property, and a Court of Appeal that struck out an entire receivership case on the theory that it duplicated another suit already running elsewhere. The Supreme Court disagreed, unanimously, and the reasoning is a genuinely useful lesson in what "abuse of process" actually requires — and what it doesn't. Facts of the Case Back in 2004, the now-defunct Fountain Trust Bank granted a ₦30 million overdraft facility to Prime Oil Development Services Limited, secured against a property in Port Harcourt owned by one of the company's directors. The following year, the company, the bank, and the property owner all signed a Tripartite Deed of Legal Mortgage spelling out the arrangement. Fountain Trust Bank later merged into Spring Bank, which became Enterprise Bank, which was eventually acquired by Heritage Bank. But before that final transition, in 2009, Spring Bank sold off Prime Oil's non-performing loan to the Asset Manag...

Introduction Is a Magistrate a "judicial officer" in the same constitutional sense as a High Court judge — entitled to the same tenure and retirement age? A Chief Magistrate spent years fighting to establish exactly that, all the way to the Supreme Court. By the time the Court finally got around to answering, the question no longer mattered to him at all — but the Court answered it anyway. This was an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had affirmed the dismissal of the appellant's claim to a later retirement age. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal. Facts of the Case Cyril Ogbu Enyi was appointed by the Benue State Judicial Service Commission as a Senior Magistrate I in December 1996, on a pensionable appointment, and rose over the years to Chief Magistrate I. Magistrate Courts in Benue State are established under state law as courts subordinate to the High Court of Benue State — not among the superior courts of ...

Introduction Over 157,000 litres of suspected crude oil, a ship called Akshay, and a fifteen-year prison sentence — but no order forfeiting the vessel itself. The Federal Government wanted that fixed at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, unanimously, dismissed the appeal. Facts of the Case The respondent, along with twelve others and further persons still at large, was charged before the Federal High Court with conspiracy to commit a felony — dealing in petroleum products — and with dealing without authority in 157,822 litres of petroleum product suspected to be crude oil. At the end of trial, the court convicted the respondent and his co-accused on the conspiracy count, but discharged and acquitted them on the second count, dealing in petroleum products. The trial court found, as a fact, that the prosecution had failed to prove that any petroleum product actually originating from Nigeria was found on board the ship. The respondent was sentenced to fifteen years' impriso...

Introduction A bank tried to walk away from its own lawsuit — and paid for the attempt three times over: at trial, at the Court of Appeal, and finally at the Supreme Court, where its lawyer was personally ordered to hand over five million naira. Facts of the Case The appellant, then known as Intercontinental Bank Plc, sued the three respondents at the Federal High Court, Akure, filing the full set of originating processes — writ of summons, statement of claim, list of exhibits, and copies of the exhibits themselves. The 1st and 2nd respondents responded properly, filing a statement of defence and a counter-claim of their own. At that point, the appellant changed lawyers. Its new counsel, rather than pressing on with the case, filed a notice of discontinuance — a formal withdrawal of the suit — without giving any reason for the change of heart. The trial court's response to that withdrawal was to dismiss the action outright. Unhappy with a dismissal rather than a simple wi...

Introduction What exactly does the Supreme Court mean when it says leave to appeal will only be granted in "exceptional circumstances"? This was an application by the Oba of Ikate land and nine other traditional titleholders, seeking extension of time to seek leave to appeal, leave to appeal, and a further extension of time to file the appeal itself, against concurrent findings of the trial court and the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court, unanimously, dismissed the application. Facts of the Case The underlying dispute traced back to a suit filed at the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja, concerning the alienation of land belonging to the Elegushi family of Ikate land — land the family said had been improperly dealt with, giving rise to a claim against Romay Sales Nigeria Limited and a second respondent. The trial court, per Akinlade, J., ruled against the family on 15th March 2018. Dissatisfied, the Oba and his fellow titleholders appealed to the Court of Appeal, Lag...

Introduction Is an offshore drilling rig a ship? And can the Federal High Court, a court with jurisdiction across the entire country, ever be "out of jurisdiction" simply because its process was served in a different city from where it was issued? This appeal answered both questions, and along the way overturned a precedent the Supreme Court itself had been applying for over a decade. The Court unanimously allowed the appeal and dismissed the cross-appeal. Facts of the Case Noble Drilling sued NIMASA and the Minister of Transport at the Federal High Court, Lagos, by originating summons, seeking a declaration that its offshore drilling rigs were not "vessels" under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003, that its operations did not amount to "coastal trade" or "cabotage," and that the Minister had acted beyond his powers in classifying the rigs as subject to cabotage waiver fees. It also sought an injunction restraining the r...