“The originating process in all appeals is the Notice of Appeal, and it is settled that once it is found to be defective, the Court of Appeal ceases to have jurisdiction to entertain an appeal in whatever form – see Nonye Iwunze V. FRN (2015) 6 NWLR (Pt 1404) 580 SC.

In effect, a defective Notice of Appeal renders an appeal non-existent in the eyes of the law, This is because the Notice of Appeal sets the ball rolling for the valid and lawful commencement of an Appeal, therefore, any defect therein goes to the root of the appeal and robs the Court of jurisdiction to hear the Appeal – see Shelim V. Gobang (2009) 12 NWLR (Pt. 1156) 435, and FRN V. Dairo (2015) 6 NWLR (Pt 1454) 141 SC, wherein Nweze, JSC, observed –

Any virus in this process would, invariably, corrode or taint the entire appeal thereby rendering it incompetent. The effect of such a viral corrosion is, usually, far-reaching as it nibbles at the jurisdiction of the appeal Court which must, as of necessity, strike out such a process. In effect, the absence of a competent Notice of Appeal, simply, translates to the non-existence of an appeal. PER A. A. AUGIE J.S.C in

Pagade Chemicals Limited & Ors V Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation [Ndic]

LER [2018]SC. 118/2014

APPEAL NO: SC. 118/2014 https://legalpediaonline.com/pagade-chemicals-limited-ors-v-nigeria-deposit-insurance-corporation-ndic/