CORAM

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ELIAS CHIEF JUSTICE OF NIGERIA

FATAYI-WILLIAMS JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT

IRIKERE JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT

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PARTIES

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FRANCIS A. ODIETE & ANOR APPELLANTS

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RESPONDENTS

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AREA(S) OF LAW

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SUMMARY OF FACTS

The appellants were plaintiff at the trial court, they failed in their attempt to prove title to the land in dispute. Being dissatisfied with the decision of the lower court, they later appealed to the supreme court. There is an earlier decision by a member of the appellants family against a member of the respondents family in respect of the same land by the old abraka native court, which was decided in favour of the member of the respondents family.

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HELD

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The court held that the appellant failed to discharge the onus of proof as required by law and the plea of estoppel was rightly upheld by the lower court .The appeal was dismissed with cost in favor of the respondent.

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ISSUES

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This appeal is from that judgment and the complaints before us are, firstly, that the learned trial Judge wrongly upheld the plea of estoppel per rem judicatam and secondly, that the findings of facts of the learned trial Judge were not supported by the evidence.

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RATIONES DECIDENDI

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WHEN THE PLEA OF ESTOPPEL WILL SUCCEED

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where the subject matter, parties and issues are the same the plea of estoppel per rem judicata will succeed. Per COKER JSC

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HOW TO DISCHARGE BURDEN OF PROOF

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It is not enough for a party to a case who has the onus of establishing a particular fact to say that his own evidence is just as good as that of his opponent; for what the law says that he must do in order to discharge the onus of proof on him is to prove by evidence, which convinces the court or tribunal of the probability of his case rather than that of his opponent, the point in issue. PER COKER JSC

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CASES CITED

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Craig v. Craig (1967) NMLR 52.

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STATUTES REFERRED TO

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None

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