CHIEF YAKUBU SANI V OKENE LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRADITIONAL COUNCIL
May 30, 2025DOMINIC E. NTIERO V NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY
May 30, 2025Legalpedia Citation: (2008) Legalpedia (CA) 19411
In the Court of Appeal
HOLDEN AT CALABAR
Tue May 27, 2008
Suit Number: CA/C/96/2007
CORAM
PARTIES
CHIEF OROK. I. IRONBAR SUING AS NEXT OF KIN AND/OR AGENT AND/OR REPRESENTATIVE OF LATE CHIEF OROK ITA OROK APPELLANTS
FEDERAL MORTGAGE FINANCE RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The Plaintiff/Appellant as next of kin and/or agent and/or representative of late Chief Orok Ita Orok instituted this action against the Defendant/Respondent claiming an injunction restraining the Defendants/ Respondent from meddling by way of sale, take over or howsoever with the Deceased property, an order that the Plaintiff /Appellant has cleared the deceased indebtedness to the Defendant/Respondent and damages. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial judge found for the Defendants and dismissed the Plaintiff’s claims, hence this appeal as lodged by the Plaintiff/Appellant.
HELD
Appeal disallowed
ISSUES
Whether the Appellant had the capacity and competence to sue the Respondent regarding the account and/or property of Late Chief Orok Ita Orok Whether the Respondent having dealt with the Appellant on Late Chief Orok Ita Orok’s account and caused him to take steps to his detriment which steps the Respondent did not deny, the trial Court was entitled to find/declare such relationship unlawful
RATIONES DECIDENDI
LOCUS STANDI- MEANING OF- EFFECT OF LACK OF LOCUS STANDI
“Locus standi is the competence of the Plaintiff to institute an action in Court. Without it, the trial court itself cannot be clothed with jurisdiction to hear or entertain the suit”
LOCUS STANDI-NATURE OF INTEREST OF A PARTY THAT HAS LOCUS STANDI
“It is an established principle of law that a party has no locus standi in a controversy if he does not have sufficient personal interest in the subject matter or the outcome of the controversy or if he has not suffered or does not stand to suffer some injury either by the enforcement or threatened exercise of some power, authority or right”
LOCUS STANDI-ASCERTAINMENT OF A LOCUS STANDI- HOW DETERMINED
“In ascertaining whether the plaintiff in an action has the standing to institute the proceedings, the Statement of Claim should be examined. So the question whether or not the plaintiff has locus standi is usually deduced or determined from all the facts averred in the Statement of Claim”
LOCUS STANDI-ASCERTAINMENT OF-THE COURT’S APPROACH THERETO
“The Court’s approach is to look at the statement of claim to ascertain whether or not the plaintiff’s sufficient interest has been disclosed, and how the interest has arisen from the subject matter of litigation”
LOCUS STANDI-WHEN A PARTY CAN BE CLEARLY ADJUDGED BY THE COURT TO HAVE CLEARLY SHOWN SUFFICIENT INTEREST TO ENTITLE HIM TO SUE
“Where in the course of scrutinizing the statement of claim, the averments disclose the interest of the Plaintiff, and, the interest is threatened with violation or actually violated by the defendant, the party would be adjudged by the court to have clearly shown sufficient interest to entitle him to sue on the subject matter”
WRIT OF SUMMONS-ENDORSEMENT THEREON
“It is trite law that endorsement on the Writ of Summons must show the capacity in which the Plaintiff is claiming, whether as a Creditor, an Administrator, a legatee, a next of kin, heir at law, a successor under customary law, a devisee, e.t.c.”
RELIEF-WHERE SOUGHT BY A PARTY TO A SUIT-WHETHER CONSTITUTES PART OF THE FACTS IN THE PLEADINGS -WHEN A RELIEF CAN BE GRANTED
“A relief sought by a party to a suit does not constitute part of the facts in the pleading and it cannot be granted unless there are facts contained in the party’s pleading in support of it upon which evidence can be called”
FAMILY PROPERTY- DEVOLUTION OF FAMILY PROPERTY
“Where a person died intestate leaving many heirs behind, the property will devolve on the heirs and will become a communal or family property of all the members of the family”.
ACTION-WHEN BROUGHT IN THE NAME OF A DEAD PERSON-STATUS OF
“An action brought in the name of a dead person is incompetent”.
ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACT- WHETHER CAN BE ENFORCED BY OR AGAINST A PERSON WHO IS NOT A PARTY THERETO
“A contract only affects the parties to it and cannot be enforced by or against a person who is not a party even if the contract was made for his benefit and purports to give him right to sue on it”
BANKER /CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP- WHETHER PERFORMANCE OF CASUAL SERVICES RENDERS A PERSON A CUSTOMER OF A BANK
“The fact that a banker habitually performs a casual service for a person, e.g cashes over the counter cheques obtained by that person from third parties, does not render that person a customer. Duration is thus, not the essence of the relationship of banker and customer”
BANKER /CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP- WHEN CREATED
“The relationship of banker and customer comes into existence only if both parties have an intention that it be established. Usually, this intention is expressly manifested when the account is opened at the customer’s request. So, when a banker opens an account for the customer the relationship established is one of debtor and creditor. When the account is in credit, the customer is the creditor and the banker the debtor. The position is reversed when the account is oSverdrawn”
BANKS-STATUS OF-WHETHER CAN BE SUBJECTED TO CUSTOMARY INHERITANCE-WHETHER COURTS CAN BE USE AS INSTRUMENTS FOR ENFORCMENT OF ILLEGALITY
“It should also be noted that Banks are legal personalities regulated by law and as such they cannot be subjected to customary inheritance. The Courts therefore cannot be used as instruments for enforcement of illegality, or circumvent the law itself”
EXECUTION OF A DEED-WHETHER A PERSON CAN SET ASIDE A DEED EXECUTED BY TWO PERSONS TO WHICH HE IS NOT A PARTY
“A person cannot seek for the setting aside or cancellation of a deed executed between two other persons and to which he is not a party. PER THERESA NGOLIKA ORJI-ABADUA JCA
EXECUTION OF A DEED-EXCEPTION TO THE RULE”The exception to this is that a member of a family may, in appropriate cases, apply to set aside a deed relating to the sale of family land which was made without the consent of principal members of the family or to which they were not parties”
ADDRESS OF COUNSEL-DUTY OF A TRIAL COURT THERETO-WHEN AN APPEAL COURT CAN INTEREFERE THEREWITH
“It is an established principle of law that the trial Court, must afford each party the opportunity to address it. Failure to do so may lead to the Appeal Court interfering with the judgment as it offends the rules relating to fair hearing.
EVIDENCE ELICTED DURING CROSS-EXAMINATION-VALIDITY AND ADMISSIBILITY OF
“It is trite law that evidence elicited during cross-examination is as valid and authentic as evidence given during examination in chief. Consequently, evidence elicited under cross-examination is admissible provided it is relevant to the fact in issue” PER THERESA NGOLIKA ORJI-ABADUA JCA
COMPETENCE OF THE TRIAL COURT- WHEN IT CAN BE RAISED”The issue of the competence of the trial court is so fundamental that it can be raised at any time even in the Supreme Court for the first time. This is so because the issue of locus standi is an indirect questioning of the Jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter”
LOCUS STANDI-WHEN A DEFENDANT IS SAID TO HAVE WAIVED HIS RIGHT- EFFECT OF AN OBJECTION TO LOCUS STANDI
“Where a defendant defends an action knowing that the plaintiff had not been authorized to do so by the third party alleged by the defendant to be rightful plaintiff, he might not, under the general law, be heard to complain later of the plaintiff’s want of locus standi as he would ordinarily be deemed to have waived his right to complain about such want of locus standi. However, this will not constitute an absolute waiver as an objection to locus standi goes to the jurisdiction of the court”
LOCUS STANDI-WHETHER A DEFENDANT CAN BE HELD TO HAVE WAIVED HIS RIGHT TO OBJECT TO LOCUS STANDI BECAUSE HE DID NOT RAISE IT IN THE TRIAL COURT
“A Defendant cannot be held to have waived his right to object to locus standi of the plaintiff merely because he did not raise it in the trial court. This is because the issue of the locus of the plaintiff is fundamental to the exercise of the judicial powers conferred on the court”
CASES CITED
C.C.B Nig Ltd v. Nbakwe (2002) 7 NWLR part 765 p. 158|Daggash vs. Bulama (2004) 14 NWLR Part 892 p. 144|Eboh vs. Ogbu (1994) 5 NWLR Part 347 p. 703 at 715|In Re: Egbo 11 (2002) 10 NWLR Part 774 p. 41|E.Z.C.E.C. Nig Ltd v. Nevico international Ltd (2004) 3 NWLR part 860 p. 327|Foko vs. Foko (1968) NWLR 441|Ishola vs. U.B.N Ltd (2005) 6 NWLR Part 922 p. 422|Ladejobi vs. Oguntayo (2004) 18 NWLR Part 904 p. 149|Mozie vs. Mbamalu (2006) 15 NWLR Part 1003 p. 466|Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (Liquidator of Allied Bank of Nigeria Pic.) vs. Okem Enterprises Ltd. (2004) 10 NWLR Part 880 p. 107|Odor vs. Nwosu (1974 1 All NLR 478|Okusoga vs. Ajani (1990) 3 NWLR (Part 141) 721|Otukpo vs. John (2000) 8 NWLR Part 669 p. 507|U.B.N. PLC vs. Ntuk (2003) 16 NWLR Part 845 p. 153|Udo vs. William was Rickett vs. B.W.A. (1960) SCNLR 227; 5 FCS 113
STATUTES REFERRED TO
Cross River State High Court Rules|
