CORAM
helen moronkeji ogunwumiju JSC
ibrahim mohammed musa saulawa JSC
chioma egondu nwosu-iheme JSC
haruna simon tsammani JSC
jamilu yammama tukur JSC
PARTIES
OMONOFEWO FRANCIS ONOITA
APPELLANTS
TEXACO NIGERIA PLC
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
CIVIL PROCEDURE, APPELLATE JURISDICTION, JURISDICTION, LIMITATION LAW, PROCEDURAL LAW, EMPLOYMENT LAW, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The Appellant is the son of Late Mr. Simeon Onoita, who was the initial Claimant in a suit against the Respondent at the High Court of Lagos State. The original suit was filed on December 12, 2002, claiming general damages of One Hundred Million Naira for denied wages, salaries, allowances, retirement benefits, and gratuity, as well as special damages for salaries from July 1994 to December 1995 and other service benefits. After the death of the original Claimant, the Appellant was substituted by court order. The trial court dismissed the action, and the Appellant’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed on the grounds that the original action was statute-barred, despite this issue having been previously decided in an interlocutory ruling at the trial court in favor of the Appellant. The Appellant challenged the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction to consider the statute of limitation issue that had been previously decided and was not raised in the grounds of appeal.
HELD
1. The appeal was dismissed.
2. The Supreme Court affirmed that jurisdiction being fundamental could be raised at any time.
3. The Court of Appeal was right to consider the issue of statute of limitation despite it being previously decided in an interlocutory ruling.
4. Each party to bear their own costs.
ISSUES
1. Whether the Court of Appeal had the jurisdiction to determine an appeal on an issue which had earlier been determined in an interlocutory decision that was never appealed and which also did not arise from the Notice of Appeal.?
RATIONES DECIDENDI
FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF JURISDICTION
“Jurisdiction has been described as a threshold issue. A threshold in the sense that it is the legal power which enables any Court or Tribunal to adjudicate over any dispute presented by an aggrieved party, and as a consequence, proceedings conducted in its absence thereof are generally described as a nullity ab initio.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
JURISDICTION AS FOUNDATION OF PROCEEDINGS
“Having heard from contending counsel I need to restate that it is a well-settled legal principle that jurisdiction is the legal right or vires by which Courts exercise their authority and power Therefore, once the Court has jurisdiction it is standing on a solid base or foundation as jurisdiction is the bed rock, the livewire or lifeblood on which a Courts proceedings are resting.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
PARTIES CANNOT CONFER JURISDICTION
“The law is elementary that party cannot or has not the competence to waive lack of jurisdiction of the Court. Where a Court lacks jurisdiction, the entire proceedings however well conducted are a nullity and a party cannot in law resuscitate or revive a nullity by waiver.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
JURISDICTION AS PILLAR OF PROCEEDINGS
“Jurisdiction is the pillar upon which the entire case stands. Filing an action in a Court of law presupposes that the Court has jurisdiction. But once the defendant shows that the Court has no jurisdiction, the foundation of the case is not only shaken but is entirely broken.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
RAISING JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES
“It has been variously held by this Court that the issue of Jurisdiction being radical in nature is at the very foundation of adjudication. It can be raised at any stage of the proceedings at the trial Court or even in this Court for the first time without leave.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
COURT’S POWER TO CONSIDER JURISDICTION
“As I have reiterated in no small measure, jurisdiction transcends the boundaries of regulations and procedural provisions. It is very much in a class of its own, divorced from the limitations which attend other nonradical issues.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
EFFECT OF INTERLOCUTORY DECISIONS ON JURISDICTION
“No interlocutory judgment or order from which there has been no appeal shall operate so as to bar or prejudice the Court from giving such decision upon the appeal as may seem just.” – Per Haruna Simon Tsammani, J.S.C.
POWERS OF APPELLATE COURT ON JURISDICTION
“The powers of the Court under the foregoing provisions of this Rule may be exercised notwithstanding that no notice of appeal or Respondent’s notice has been given in respect of any particular part of the decision of the lower Court.” – Per Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju, J.S.C.
STATUTE OF LIMITATION AS JURISDICTIONAL ISSUE
“The issue of statute of limitation is one of jurisdiction. It is noteworthy that once an issue is one of jurisdiction and or competence, it can be raised and determined even suo motu by a Court of law.” – Per Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju, J.S.C.
DUTY TO DETERMINE JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES
“The issue of jurisdiction once raised must be determined, and non-compliance with the rules of Court in raising it cannot prevent a Court from considering and determining it in the interest of substantial justice.” – Per Helen Moronkeji Ogunwumiju, J.S.C.
PARAMOUNTCY OF JURISDICTION
“Such is the paramountcy of jurisdiction that not even an agreement by the disputing parties whether express or implied, can vest jurisdiction on a Court where it is lacking.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
TIMING OF JURISDICTIONAL OBJECTIONS
“The Court’s innate obligation to consider a jurisdictional issue would not be afflicted by the Rules of Court, conduct of the parties, or even an express submission to jurisdiction by a Defendant.” – Per Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, J.S.C.
SCOPE OF APPELLATE JURISDICTION
“If the issue of jurisdiction is apparent on the face of the record, the Court below could not ignore it on the excuse that it is not supported by any of the grounds of appeal.” – Per Haruna Simon Tsammani, J.S.C.
CASES CITED