Nigeria Association Of General Practice Pharmacist Employers V. Pharmacists Council Of Nigeria & Ors (2013)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

ITA G. MBABA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This is an appeal against the Ruling of the Federal High Court, Kaduna, delivered by HON. JUSTICE A.M. LIMAN, on 25th July, 2003, dismissing the Appellants’ claims, which were for:-

“i. An Order of Certiorari to remove into this Honourable Court for the purpose of being quashed the decisions of the respondent as contained in the Letter of 15th November, 1995.

ii. An Order of prohibition prohibiting the Respondents from implementing or enforcing the said decision of the respondents contained in the letter dated November, 1995.

iii. Declaration that the new conditions laid down as stipulated by the respondents in their letter dated 15th November, 1995 for the registering or renewal of the registration of Pharmaceutical premises are unconstitutional, unreasonable, made without or in excess of jurisdiction, irregular, unlawful and void.

Iv. An order of mandamus compelling the respondents to register or renew the registration of the pharmaceutical premises of the applicants who fulfill the requirements that had existed before the new requirements, objected to in this action, were introduced.

v. Injunction restraining the respondents by themselves, their agents, servants, privies or otherwise howsoever from implementing or enforcing the said decision in processing registration or renewal of the registration of the pharmaceutical premises of the applicants.

Appellant was the plaintiff at the lower Court, and the grounds for seeking the reliefs were:

“1. That the guidelines for registration of pharmacists and pharmaceutical premises for 1996 and years ahead has excluded the applicants/appellants from carrying on their legitimate business, and

2. That the said guidelines for registration of pharmacists and pharmaceutical premises for 1996 and years, ahead is unlawful and therefore void.”

Appellant filed the Notice of appeal on 2/9/03, as per pages 137 and 138 of the Record of Appeal and disclosed 3 grounds of Appeal. Appellant later filed Amended Notice of Appeal with the leave of this Court, on 17/7/06, wherein 8 grounds of appeal were raised, as follows:

“GROUNDS OF APPEAL

i. The Ruling is unreasonable, unwarranted and cannot be supported having regard to the weight of evidence.

ii. The learned trial judge erred in law when he refused the Applicant/Appellant relief No. 1 on the ground that it is caught by limitation.

PARTICULARS OF ERRORS IN LAW