CASE CITATION: CHIEF IMEH ALBERT AKPAN v. SENATOR EFFIONG BOB & 4 ORS. (2010) 4-7 S.C. (Pt. II) 57
DATE OF JUDGMENT: FRIDAY, THE 21ST DAY OF MAY, 2010
COURT: SUPREME COURT
SUIT NO: SC. 135/2009
CORAM:
- DAHIRU MUSDAPHER, JSC – (Presided)
- WALTER S. N. ONNOGHEN, JSC
- FRANCIS F. TABAI, JSC
- IBRAHIM T. MUHAMMAD, JSC – (Delivered the Leading Judgment)
- JOHNA. FABIYI, JSC
ISSUE(S): LEGAL DEFINITION OF A GROUND OF APPEAL – WHETHER A GROUND OF APPEAL CAN ARISE OUTSIDE THE TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT APPEALED AGAINST. SITUATIONS FROM WHICH A GROUND OF APPEAL MAY ARISE:
CASE SYNTHESIS
“Authorities are agreed on the legal definition of a ground of appeal. It is said to be the error of law or facts alleged by an Appellant as the defect in the Judgment appealed against upon which reliance has been placed to set it aside. In other words, it is the reason(s) why the decision is considered wrong by the aggrieved party. See: Olaleye v. The State (1991) 1 NWLR (Pt. 170) 708 at 718. Azatse v. Zegcor (1994) 5 NWLR (Pt.342) 76 at 83; Idika v. Erisi (1988) 5. S.C (Reprint) 323
Although many authorities lay emphasis that ground of appeal must stem from the text of the Judgment (ipissima verba), for instance, in the case of Metal Construction (West Africa) Ltd. v. D. A. Megliore and Ors, in Re-Miss C. Ogundare (1990) 2 S.C. 33; (1990) ANLR142 at 148; FMBN v. NDIC (supra), such decisions in my humble view, by no means limit the scope of a ground of appeal. And, from the general definitions, a ground of appeal can arise in a number of situations such as the following:
- from the text of the decision appealed against (ipsissima verba);
- from the procedure under which the Claim was initiated;
- from the procedure under which the decision was rendered; or
- from other extrinsic factors such as Issue of jurisdiction of a court from which the Appeal emanates;
- from commissions or omissions by the court from which an appeal emanates in either refusing to do what it ought to do or doing what it ought not to do or even in overdoing the act complained of.” – CHIEF IMEH ALBERT AKPAN v. SENATOR EFFIONG BOB & 4 ORS. (2010) 4-7 S.C. (Pt. II) 57 @ Page 94/95
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