APPELLATE PRACTICE ā Issues for Determination ā Competency ā Must Flow from Grounds of Appeal and Relate to Decision Appealed Against
Ratio Decidendi
Per Musdapher, JSC, in Ogunyade v. Oshunkeye & Anor (2007) NLC-123-364-2002(SC) at p. 7; Paras DāB:
"An issue for determination in an appeal must not only be derived from a legitimate ground of appeal, but must also be related to the decision of the court below. It is not every observation and passing remark of the court below that is appealable, to be appealable a complaint must be related to the decision appealed against. Where an issue for determination does relate to any ground of appeal, this court has no option other than to discountenance it as it is incompetent."
Explanation / Scope
An issue for determination must be derived from a valid ground of appeal and relate to the decision of the lower court. Mere observations or passing remarks in the judgment below are not appealable. If an issue does not flow from any ground of appeal, the appellate court will strike it out as incompetent. This ensures that appeals focus on errors in the actual decision, not extraneous commentary.