Benjamin Ubanyara & Anor V. Pastor Gana (2014)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

IBRAHIM SHATA BDLIYA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the judgment of the Gombe State High Court in its appellate jurisdiction (hereinafter referred to as the lower court) delivered on the 20th of June, 2011, wherein the judgment of the Upper Area Court, Kaltungo, was reversed and the judgment of the Tangale Waja Area court (hereinafter as the trial court) restored. Being dissatisfied with the judgment of the lower court, the appellants appealed to this Court vide a Notice of appeal filed on 26th June, 2011 on three grounds of appeal.

Briefly, the facts of the case from the trial court to this court are thus: The 1st appellant who was the plaintiff before the trial court sued the respondent (who was the defendant) claiming that he mortgaged his farmland to the respondent for the period of 16 years paying the sum of N23,000.00 (Twenty Three Thousand Naira) per annum. The respondent denied this claim and asserted that the land in dispute was sold to him by the 1st appellant.

The trial court entered judgment in favour of the respondent. Not satisfied with the judgment of the trial court he appealed to the Upper Area Court, Kaltungo. At this stage the 2nd appellant sought for and obtained an order of court to be joined as appellant. The Upper Area Court, after taking evidence from the 2nd appellant who was joined as a party, reversed the judgment of the trial court and entered judgment in favour of the appellant.

Dissatisfied with that judgment, the respondent appealed to the lower court. The lower court was of the view that the Upper Area Court judge erred in law when he set aside the judgment of the trial court and entered judgment in favour of the appellant. The lower court then set aside the judgment of the Upper Area Court and entered judgment in favour of the, respondent. It is against this judgment that the appellant filed his appeal to this court on 3 grounds of appeal.

The 3 grounds of appeal devoid of their particulars are as follows:

GROUND ONE (1)

That the learned Judges of the Lower court erred in law when they held that the additional evidence adduced by PW5 (now 2nd Appellant) occasioned a miscarriage of justice since the Upper Area Court did not adduce reason for admitting the evidence.

GROUND TWO (2)

The learned Judges of the Lower Court misdirected themselves when they did not give cognizance to the fact that the land in dispute is a family land.

GROUND THREE (3)

The judgment of the lower court is against the weight of evidence.

The appellants filed their brief of argument on the 21st of February, 2013 but deemed filed on the 14th of November, 2013 wherein three (3) issues were distilled from the three (3) grounds of appeal for the determination of the court. The issues are:

(i) Whether or not additional evidence of a party who had applied to be joined as a party to the Suit on appeal at the trial Court and was allowed to be so joined, can be allowed on appeal.