The Supreme Court of Nigeria is the apex court of the land. The Court, just as every other court in this country, is a creation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and its jurisdiction is donated and circumscribed by the 1999 Constitution, and the Supreme Court Act. Obiuweubi v. Central Bank of Nigeria (2011) 7 NWLR (Pt. 1247) 465.
Apart from the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court contained in section 232 of the Constitution, the National Assembly also has the power to confer additional original jurisdiction on the Supreme Court on any issue excluding Criminal matters. In the exercise of this power, the National Assembly enacted the Supreme Court (Additional Original Jurisdiction) Act CAP S16 LFN 2004.
Section 1(1) of the Supreme Court (Additional Original Jurisdiction) Act states the Supreme Court shall to the exclusion of any other court, have original jurisdiction in any dispute between –
(a)the National Assembly and the President;
(b)the National Assembly and any State House of Assembly; and
(c)the National Assembly and the State of the Federation. In so far as that dispute involves any question, whether of law or fact, on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.
As held in Oko v. A.G. Ebonyi State (2021) 14 NWLR (Pt. 1795) 63, a legal right is a right recognisable in law. It means a right recognised by law and capable of being enforced by the plaintiff. It is a right of a party recognised and protected by a rule of law, the violation of which would be a legal wrong done to the interest of the plaintiff, even though no action is taken. The determination of the existence of a legal right is not whether the action will succeed at the trial but whether the action denotes such a right by reference to the enabling law in respect of the commencement of the action. See also A.G Lagos State v. AG Federation (2003) 2 NWLR (Pt. 833) 1
So in the case of President, F.R.N. v. National Assembly (2023) 3 NWLR (Pt. 1870) 1, upon the presentation of the Electoral Bill 2022 to the plaintiff, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he assented to it and it became law, to wit, the Electoral Act, 2022. Thereafter, the case of the plaintiff was that section 84(12)of the Electoral Act, 2022 was unconstitutional, null, and void, being discriminatory against political appointees and therefore violated the provisions of section 42(1) of the Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the United Nations Declarations on Human Rights.
Upon careful examination, the Supreme Court held that the case did not involve any question on which the existence or extent of any legal right depended, nor involved the civil rights and obligations of the plaintiff. The action, therefore did not fall within the ambit of section 232 of the the1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 1(1)of the Supreme Court (Additional Jurisdiction)Act 2002.
Thank you for reading. See you next week.
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