The Supreme Court of Nigeria has delivered a unanimous five-member judgement, strongly condemning what it described as the “weaponisation of judicial processes”, in a ruling that set aside a series of ex-parte orders issued by the Court of Appeal.
The Apex Court criticised the Court of Appeal for granting what it termed a “restorative ex- parte order”, describing the development as a “judicial tragedy” and warning against the growing misuse of far-reaching interim reliefs.
It held that the relief granted by the Court of Appeal was, in substance, an interlocutory injunction which ought not to have been issued ex-parte, stressing that such orders must not be used to determine substantive rights at an interim stage.
The Supreme Court further ruled that the Court of Appeal exercised jurisdiction in a matter that was not properly before it, reiterating the settled legal principle that the mere filing of a Notice of Appeal does not, on its own, confer jurisdiction on an appellate court.
It also found the ex-parte order staying proceedings before the trial court to be fundamentally defective, and accordingly, set it aside in its entirety.
In the case involving Neconde Energy Limited and Nestoil Limited, the Supreme Court held that Neconde’s appeal was meritorious, and nullified all impugned 186-day-old ex-parte orders previously made against both companies by the Court of Appeal.
The judgement reaffirmed established principles gover-ning appellate jurisdiction, and issued a stern caution against granting substantive interlocutory relief through ex- parte applications, particularly at appellate level, warning that such practices undermine procedural fairness and judicial discipline.
The court’s ruling is widely seen as a strong reaffirmation of the limits of appellate authority, underscoring that strict adherence to due process remains central to the integrity of Nigeria’s judicial system, and essential to maintaining confidence in the rule of law.
