Declare That Evidence Act Applies To National Industrial Court In All Circumstances — Lawyer Prays Court

Abuja based Lawyers, Christian Nwani Oti and Jennifer Efekhodha have dragged the National Assembly and The President of the National Industrial Court before the Federal High Court. In court processes made available to the press, the Legal Practitioners are contending that the National Industrial Court is bound to follow the provisions of the Evidence Act of 2011, despite provisions of the National Industrial Court Act 2006 and the National Industrial Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2017 giving it power to do otherwise.

According to the Applicants, the long title of the Evidence Act, specifies that it is an Act which shall apply to all judicial proceedings in or before courts in Nigeria and for related matters; while section 256 of the same Act, provides that the Act shall apply to all judicial proceedings in any court established in the Nigeria, except for those expressly exempted by the Act. They further described it as worrisome that the National Assembly in enacting the National Industrial Court Act 2006, permitted via section 12(2) (b) that the National Industrial Court can depart from the application of the Evidence Act in the interest of justice, fair-play and in what it considers appropriate cases. This departure was further echoed in Order 5, Rule 6 National Industrial Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2017 pursuant to the NIC Act 2006.

The applicants in their written statement admitted that while the intent of the drafters of the NIC Act and Rules are laudable, it failed to realise that judicial discretion must be done in line with the law. They contended that The Evidence Act, 2011, being a specific law on matters of evidence in judicial proceedings takes precedence over the NIC Act and Rules, which are only general laws on practice and procedure for the court.

They further stated that the Honourable Justices of National Industrial Courts over the years riding on the contentious provisions of the NIC Act and Rules have deviated from the extant rules of Evidence in cases that they have participated in and also witnessed, seemingly making nonsense of a hallowed statute in the Nigerian Legal System.

According to Chris Nwani Oti, the first applicant in the suit, they are seeking judicial interpretation of the contentious provisions and if the court so finds, such provisions should be declared null and void and the National Industrial Court be restrained from acting according to those provisions.

The matter has been set for hearing on the 8th of June, 2022.