Legal Principles – Nigerian LawCompass

Labour Law Important

LABOUR LAW — Termination of Employment — Employee Must Plead and Prove Breach of Contract Terms

"It is the law that when an employee complains that his employment has been wrongfully terminated, he has the onus of placing before the court the terms of the contract...

Labour Law Important

LABOUR LAW — Termination of Employment — Written Contract Governs Determination of Service

"It is trite that the court must, in construing the relationship of the parties in any contract, confine itself to the plain words and meaning which can be derived from...

Evidence Law Important

EVIDENCE LAW — Proof of Public Documents — Judgment as Conclusive Proof

"Only the judgment given by a court can be relied upon as the conclusive proof of the matters decided between parties to a case. See section 54 of the Evidence...

Constitutional Law Important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — State Creation — Succession to Assets and Liabilities — Liability for Projects Vests in State of Location

"I declare that by the guideline on the sharing of assets and liabilities as between the plaintiff and the defendant, the projects sited in each of the two States vest...

Civil Procedure Important

CIVIL PROCEDURE — Affidavit Evidence — Unchallenged Facts Deemed Admitted

"When facts deposed to in an affidavit are unchallenged, the court may accept those facts as true and correct. See Adejumo v. Ayantegbe (1989) 3 NWLR (Pt. 110) 417; Eze...

Evidence Law Important

EVIDENCE LAW — Estoppel — State Not Estopped from Challenging Statute by Acts of Its Representatives in National Assembly

"It is true that the members of the National Assembly have been elected to the Assembly as members but they cannot be described as members of all the states because...

Evidence Law Important

EVIDENCE LAW — Affidavit Evidence — Legal Arguments and Conclusions Inadmissible in Affidavits

"An affidavit shall not contain extraneous matter, by way of objection, or prayer, or legal argument or conclusion. … the depositions in the paragraphs of the affidavit in question have...

Constitutional Law Important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — Revenue Allocation — National Assembly’s Power to Prescribe Distribution of Federation Account

"Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the Local Government Councils in each State on such terms...

Constitutional Law Important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — Legislative Judgment — Revenue Allocation Act Not a Legislative Judgment

"I accept the argument by the defendants' counsel, that based on the decision of this court in the following cases — Lakanmi & Anor. v. A-G. (West) (supra); Uwaifo v....

Constitutional Law Important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — Legislative Judgment — Attributes of Legislative Judgment Denoting Usurpation of Judicial Functions

"What is a Legislative Judgment? … It is an enactment by the legislature wearing the garb or having a colouration or flavour of a conviction (the legislature transmuting itself more...

Constitutional Law Important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — Interpretation of Statutes — Deemed Extension of Boundaries for Revenue Computation Only Not Cession of Territory

"A careful reading of section 1 subsection (1) of the Act shows that the extension deemed to have been given to the seaward boundary of the littoral states is specifically...

Constitutional Law Important

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — International Law — International Conventions Apply to the Federation, Not Constituent States

"In a Federation, it applies to the Federation and not the constituent or Federating States that comprise the Federation. This is necessarily so, because international law applies to countries that...