Alhassan Auwalu V. Federal Republic Of Nigeria (2017)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

AMIRU SANUSI, J.S.C.

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja division (herein after referred to as “the lower Court”) delivered on 19th of May, 2016 which affirmed the Ruling of the High Court of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (the trial Court) delivered by M.B. Idris J. on 20th April, 2015.

The facts which gave rise to this appeal are summarised hereunder. On 12th March, 2015, the appellant and one other accused person were arraigned before the trial High Court by the respondent/prosecution on five count charge filed on 13th February, 2015, of course, after the latter obtained leave from the trial Court. The five count charges were contrary to Section 25 (1) (a) and Section 26 (1) (c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000. Both the appellant and his co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charges when same were read to them and the trial Court thereafter admitted them to bail.

Then on the 16th March, 2015, the appellant filed a motion before the trial Court, praying it to quash the instant charge on three grounds listed below:-

(1) That the charge was incompetent, unconstitutional and void as same violated the provisions of Section 36(6) and (12) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, Section 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code and had amounted to grave abuse of process of the Court.

(2) That the charge framed against the accused/appellant was groundless, vexatious and frivolous as it disclosed no prima facie case against the appellant; and

(3) That the said charge Exhibit A was filed before the trial Court granted leave to the prosecution/respondent to so frame it and same was therefore defective and void, as such the proceedings held on 9/3/2015 and the accused appellants purported arraignment on 10/3/2015 on Exhibit A (the charge) are null and void ab intio.

On 10th March 2015, the motion was heard by the trial Court and was adjourned to 20th April, 2015 for ruling. On 20/4/2015, the trial Court delivered its considered ruling dismissing the application and adjourned the matter for continuation of the proceeding in the matter. Miffed by the Ruling of the trial Court, the appellant promptly appealed to the lower Court. The lower

Court after hearing the appeal, dismissed same, vide its judgment delivered on 19/3/2015.

Piqued by the judgment of the lower Court, the appellant has now appealed to this Court. The appellant initially filed two notices of appeal dated 24/5/2015 and 22/6/2016. He later chose to abandon the notice of appeal he filed on 24/5/2015 and relied on the notice of appeal he filed on 22nd June 2016 as his extant notice of appeal. That extant notice of appeal contains twelve grounds of appeal including the omnibus ground of appeal.

In keeping with the rules and practice obtained in this Court, parties filed and exchanged briefs of argument. The appellant’s brief of argument dated 1st July 2016 which was settled by Josiah Daniel Ebune Esq was filed on the same 1st July 2016. Out of the twelve grounds of appeal, the appellant proposed four issues for the determination of the appeal which are set out below:-

(A) Whether the Court below was right in failing to resolve the issue of the competence of in (sic) in the respondent’s brief of Argument that was early (sic) filed outside the 10days statutory period prescribed by Order 9(b) of the Court

of Appeal Practice Direction of 2013, without any extended time to do so raised by the appellant and its Brief of argument (Ground 3 of the notice of appeal)

(B) Whether the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal were not in error in entirely adopting the issues for determination as framed by the Respondent in resolving the Appellants appeal when those issues were vague, abstract and without reference to the relevant facts touching the real questions in contoversies upon which the Notice of Appeal was anchored and whether the error has not occasioned a miscarriage of justice. (Grounds 1, 5, 11 and 12 of the Notice of Appeal). (C) whether the learned Justices of the Court of Appeal were right in affirming the trial Court (sic) on the repealed Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, Cap C 31, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 which does not provide for the offences as that under which the Appellant is standing charged, on the ground that its previous decisions upholding the constitutionality of the 2000 Act, have not been overruled by the Supreme Court and whether in all the circumstances, the decision has not prejudiced the