EJAKPOMEHWE AKPORUE & ANOR VS ISICHERI OKEI & ORS
August 14, 2025FEDERAL ADMINISTRATOR – GENERAL & ORS VS PAUL WILLIAM CARDOSO & ORS
August 14, 2025Legalpedia Citation: (1973) Legalpedia (SC) 00411
In the Supreme Court of Nigeria
Wed Nov 28, 1973
Suit Number: SC. 364/1971
CORAM
ELIAS, CHIEF JUSTICE, NIGERIA
EMANUEL OBIOMA OGWUEGBU, JSC. JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT (Read the Leading Judgment)
BABALAKIN,JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
OGBERO EGRI APPELLANTS
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The Plaintiff prayed the Court to order the Defendant to return his wife whom he claimed was being detained by the defendant despite demands for her return.
HELD
The Supreme Court held that that the judgment of the learned Trial Judge should not be allowed to stand.
ISSUES
None
RATIONES DECIDENDI
RESTRICTION OF THE POWER OF THE COURT OF APPEAL
“As we have stated on a number of occasions, it is not the business of a court of appeal to substitute its own views for the views of the trial court which is in a much better position to assess the credibility of all those who testified before it.” Per FATAYI-WILLIAMS, JSC
DUTY OF TRIAL COURT TO APPRAISE EVIDENCE
“The duty of appraising evidence given at a trial is pre-eminently that of the trial court which saw and heard the witnesses. It is the right of that court to ascribe values to such evidence; therefore, a court of appeal may not disturb a judgment simply on the ground that it would have come to a different conclusion on the facts as long as the judgment of the trial court is supported by the evidence rightly accepted by that court.” Per FATAYI-WILLIAMS, JSC
CASES CITED
1. Ogundulu & Ors. v. Chief Emmanuel Olabode Phillips & Ors. (1973) 2 SC. 71 at p. 80
STATUTES REFERRED TO
1. The Customary Courts Edict of the Mid-Western State (No. 38 of 1966)
