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June 28, 2019 10:05 am
"It is important to note that once it cannot be said who signed the court process, the Rules of court cannot be relied upon to provide remedy, as done herein by the Appellants’ counsel, as same cannot override the provisions of the Legal Practitioner’s Act. See SLB Consortium Plc v NNPC (supra), where the Court emphatically stated that there must be strict compliance with the law."- PER A. O. OBASEKI-ADEJUMO, J.C.A.
JURISDICTION OF COURT – WHETHER AN APPELLATE COURT CAN EXERCISE ITS APPELLATE JURISDICTION OVER A MATTER WHEN THE ORIGINATING PROCESS IS FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE
"The law is that court processes and originating processes in particular, including writ of summons, originating summons or Notice of Appeal must be valid to confer jurisdiction on a Court to adjudicate between the parties in dispute between them. Where, as in the instant case, it is found that the Writ of Summons is defective, and that the lower court had no jurisdiction to decide the matter due to such fundamental defect in the originating process and the proceedings and judgment rendered became a nullity, this court as an appellate court has no appellate jurisdiction over the matter, as an appeal cannot emanate from nullities. Ipso facto, as the court rightly said in Macfoy v UAC (supra) cited by the 1st Respondent’s counsel, you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand. See also Bank Of Industry Ltd v Awojugbagbe Light Industries Ltd (supra)."-
PER A. O. OBASEKI-ADEJUMO, J.C.A. IN ABIGAIL ROLAKE BELLO & ORS VS ALLIANCE LIFE INSURANCE PLC & ORS
APPEAL NO: CA/L/61/2013
LEGALPEDIA ELECTRONIC CITATION: LER[2019] CA/L/61/2013
