LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Locus Standi — Effect of Resignation on Standing to Challenge Dissolution of Body
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A person who has resigned from a body lacks locus standi to challenge the dissolution of that body, as they have no legal interest in its continued existence.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ogundare, JSC, in Yesufu v. Gov. Edo State & Ors (2001) NLC-701996(SC) at p. 12; Paras C–D.
"In the case on hand, I do not know what legal interest the appellant would have in the continued existence of the Governing Council from whose chairmanship he had resigned; nor the threat of injury he would suffer. I think the two courts below were right in holding that he had no locus standi to sue for the dissolution of the Governing Council after he had resigned from that body."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
A person who resigns from a body loses standing to challenge its dissolution. They have no legal interest in the body’s continued existence after resignation. They cannot claim any threat of injury from dissolution. The principle applies to members who voluntarily withdraw before the challenged action. The plaintiff must have an interest at the time the action arose. Resignation severs the legal relationship. The court will not grant standing to former members to litigate internal affairs. The rule prevents persons from creating standing by resigning and then suing. The plaintiff must show a direct, personal, and subsisting interest. The principle ensures that only affected parties can sue.