NEWS
Supreme Court Nullifies Appeal Court Ex-Parte Orders, Warns Against Misuse of Judicial Process
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has delivered a unanimous five-member judgment strongly condemning what it described as the weaponisation of judicial processes, setting aside a series of ex-parte orders previously issued by the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.
In a firm rebuke, the Apex Court described the disputed action as a restorative ex-parte order and labelled the development a judicial tragedy, warning against the growing misuse of sweeping interim reliefs that risk undermining due process.
The Supreme Court held that the relief granted by the Court of Appeal was, in substance, an interlocutory injunction that should never have been issued ex-parte. It stressed that such orders cannot be used to effectively determine substantive rights at an interim stage, reaffirming the boundaries of judicial discretion.
The Court further ruled that the Court of Appeal acted without proper jurisdiction in a matter that was not validly before it. It reiterated the settled legal principle that the mere filing of a notice of appeal does not automatically confer jurisdiction on an appellate court.
It also found the ex-parte order staying proceedings before the trial court to be fundamentally defective, and consequently nullified it in its entirety.
The case, which involved Neconde Energy Limited and Nestoil Limited, saw the Supreme Court uphold Neconde’s appeal as meritorious and nullify all impugned 186-day-old ex-parte orders previously issued against both companies by the Court of Appeal.
The judgment restated long-established principles governing appellate jurisdiction and issued a strong caution against granting substantive interlocutory relief through ex-parte applications, particularly at the appellate level. The Court warned that such practices weaken procedural fairness and undermine judicial discipline.
Widely regarded as a major reaffirmation of appellate limits, the ruling underscored that strict adherence to due process remains central to the integrity of Nigeria’s judicial system and essential for sustaining public confidence in the rule of law.