LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Jurisdiction — Conferment by Parties — Cannot Confer Jurisdiction by Connivance or Acquiescence
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Jurisdiction is the threshold of judicial power; parties cannot by connivance, acquiescence or collusion confer jurisdiction on a court. Where a court lacks jurisdiction, parties cannot confer it. Lack of jurisdiction cannot be waived by one or both parties.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Niki Tobi, JSC, in Okolo & Anor v. UBN Ltd (2004) NLC-1611998(SC) at p. 6; Paras B–C.
"Jurisdiction, being the threshold of judicial power and judicialism and by extension extrinsic to the adjudication, parties cannot by connivance, acquiescence or collusion confer jurisdiction on a court. Where a court lacks jurisdiction, parties in the litigation cannot confer jurisdiction on the court. As a matter of law, lack of jurisdiction cannot be waived by one or both parties."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Jurisdiction cannot be conferred by party agreement, connivance, acquiescence, or collusion. Lack of jurisdiction is not waivable by any party. The principle applies to all civil proceedings. The rule protects the court’s constitutional limits. Parties cannot consent to a court acting without jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is extrinsic to party control.
