United Bank For Africa Limited V. Stahlbau Gmbh & Co. KG. (1988)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

OBASEKI, J.S.C.

The short point in this appeal is whether the ground of appeal filed along with the notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal raises a question or questions of law alone. The point highlights the difficulty in drawing the thin fine line between grounds of appeal involving questions of law alone and grounds of appeal involving questions of mixed law and fact.

The point also highlights the continued practice of counsel drafting grounds of appeal to the appeal courts erroneously classifying or describing grounds involving questions of mixed law and fact as grounds of law alone thereby removing or underplaying the emphasis which the questions of fact the grounds involve deserve to the detriment of the appellants rights to articulate the questions involved.

The genesis of this matter began in the High Court of Lagos, Ikeja Judicial Division where the plaintiff filed a writ of summons endorsed with the claim which reads:

“The plaintiffs’ claim against the defendant is for the sum of Austrian Schillings AS 13,552,949.80 otherwise N670,446.89 with interest thereon at 12 3/4% interest per annum from the 19th day of November, 1982 until the final liquidation of the said amount, being the total cost now due and payable by the defendant to the plaintiff for the construction by the plaintiff of a factory in Lagos with the supply thereon of machinery equipment and raw materials at the defendants’ request.

PARTICULARS OF CLAIM

Cost of items supplied on

1. (i) CBN Form No. 273916

(ii) Customs Bill of Entry No. C3315.5 of 15/5/82

(iii) Bill of Lading No. 20 of 26/4/82 – AS6,667,166.00;

2(i) CBN Form No. 273917

(ii) Customs Bill of Entry No. C230025 of 10/8/82

(iii) Bill of Lading No. 501 of 10/8/82 – AS2,728,623.80

3. (i) CBN Form No. 273918

(ii) Customs Bill of Entry No.

(iii) Bill of Lading No.101 of 31/8/82 – AS2,392,412.00