APPELLATE PRACTICE — Notice of Appeal — Amendment — Void Notice Cannot Be Amended
Ratio Decidendi
Per Onnoghen, JSC, in Co-operative and Commerce Bank Plc & Anor v. Ekperi (2007) NLC-123-68-2002(SC) at p. 13; Paras B–D:
"With the finding that the said original notice of appeal cannot in law be said to have existed, it follows that what is void, or non existent in law cannot be validly amended. That being the case I hold that the purported amended Notice of Appeal was an exercise in futility, and could not have 'breathed life' into the fundamentally defective original notice of appeal."
Explanation / Scope
A notice of appeal that is fundamentally defective is void and cannot be amended. An amendment cannot cure a nullity or give life to a non-existent document. Once the original notice is incompetent, any purported amended notice is an exercise in futility. The only remedy is to file a fresh notice of appeal, subject to time limitations.