Where lies the exact jurisdiction of the Federal High Court? Oladipo v N.C.S.B. (2009) 12 NWLR pt. 1156, p.563. In this case, the plaintiff sued Nigeria Customs Services at the Fed High Court Ilorin sometime around 2002 seeking an order of court restraining the defendant from continuing trespass on his land and damages for trespass. The Fed High Court struck out the suit on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction bcos of the subject matter. The Plaintiff the went to the State High Court who also struck out the suit on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction bcos the defendant was a Fed Govt agency. It was only in 2009 that the Court of Appeal gave the plaintiff a hope of a court by holding that the matter was rightly before the State High Court. The Judge delivering his judgment reflected as follows: "it is very worrisome that 36 years after its creation,the determination of the question of the precise ambit of the substantive jurisdiction of the Fed High Court has continued to excite curious reactions and provoke divergent interpretations. The chequered movement of this case exemplifies the odd consequences of this state of affairs. Whereas the Fed High Court holden at Ilorin declined the invitation to adjudicate on the matter on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to do so, the State High Court equally chased the plaintiff away from the temple of justice, pleading the same lack of jurisdiction!" The effect is that the appellant, like the bat which is neither a bird nor a mammal, has been unable to ventilate his grievance in either of the courts since 2002 when he took out his writ of summons. This speaks ill of our jurisprudence.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 17:28:23 +0000
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