LEGAL PRINCIPLE: ARBITRATION LAW – Setting Aside Arbitral Award – Limitation Period – Time Bar Goes to Competency of Application
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A complaint that an action is statute-barred, is unarguably a complaint against the competency of the action.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Katsina-Alu, JSC, in Araka v. Ejeagwu (2000) NLC-511999(SC) at p. 7; Paras D–E.
"A complaint that an action is statute-barred, is unarguably a complaint against the competency of the action."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
A statute-barred action is not merely a procedural defect; it goes to the competency (jurisdiction) of the court to entertain the matter. Where a prescribed limitation period has expired without filing, the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the application. This is because the right to sue has been extinguished by law. The objection can be raised at any stage, even for the first time on appeal, as it challenges the very foundation of the court’s authority to adjudicate. A competent court cannot entertain an incompetent application.