NATURE OF A CAUSE OF ACTION

A cause of action is that action which connotes every fact which is material to be proved before a competent Court of law to entitle the plaintiff to succeed or all those things necessary to give a right to relief in law or equity. Thus, it is the factual base or some factual situation, a continuation of which makes the matter in litigation an enforceable or an actionable wrong. Consequently, before a party files a matter in Court, he must possess a cause of action against some person(s) or institution(s). In other words, a plaintiff/claimant must show by his pleadings that he has a cause of action maintaining in a Court of law against the defendant.

– Shuaibu JCA. Diamond Bank v. Mocok (2019)

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JUDICIAL POWERS IS UNAVAILABLE FOR RIGHTS NOT INFRINGED

It is only when the civil rights and obligations of a person fall for determination because of infringement or incursion by another person or authority, the Courts of the country have a right of adjudication. That is to say, in the face of accrued rights which had not been violated, tampered with or alleged to be violated or tampered with, the judicial powers of the Courts of Nigeria remain latent in the face of naked accrued rights.

– M. Peter-Odili, JSC. Oko v. Ebonyi State (2021)

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THE LAW FOR DETERMINING A CASE IS THE LAW AS AT THE TIME CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE

The injury complained of by the Claimant occurred on 14th July 2012. This means that the cause of action arose on that said date. By OBIUWEUBI V. CBN [2011] 7 NWLR (PT. 1247) 465 the law for determining a case is the law as at the time the cause of action arose. This means that the law for determining the instant case is the Employee’s Compensation Act 2010 which replaced the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

— E.N. Agbakoba, J. Igenoza v Unknown Defendant (2019) – NICN/ABJ/294/2014

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ACCRUAL OF RIGHT VS CAUSE OF ACTION

That accrual of rights is not the same thing as accrual of cause of action or accrual of right of action. The implication is that an unviolated right does not confer on the holder of right, any rights of action because there is no cause of action. In my humble view therefore, right of action and cause of action can be coterminous but accrual of right per se stands alone. It follows that accrual of right under the Constitution entitles the holder of the right to call in aid the judicial powers of the Court under our statutes. It is the infringement of that right which is the cause of action and gives the holder the right of action to activate the judicial powers of the Court under Section 6 (6) (a) & (b) of the CFRN 1999 as amended.

– M. Peter-Odili, JSC. Oko v. Ebonyi State (2021)

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DETERMINING THE EXISTENCE OR NONEXISTENCE OF A CAUSE OF ACTION

In determining the existence or non-existence of a cause of action in a suit, the Court is to consider the Writ of Summons and the statement of claim. And what distinguishes a claim which discloses cause of action from the one that does not is that where a statement of claim discloses some reasonable cause of action on the facts alleged in it, it is where the claim has some chances of success and once it raises some issues of law or fact calling for determination by the Court. Put differently, it is irrelevant to consider the weakness of the plaintiff’s claim but whether it raise some questions fit to be decided by a Court. And for a statement of claim to be said to disclose no cause of action it must be such as nobody can understand what claim he is required to meet.

– Shuaibu JCA. Diamond Bank v. Mocok (2019)

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ASCERTAIN WHEN CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUED

It is also trite that in order to ascertain the time when the cause of action accrued, for the purpose of the limitation law, the courts only looks at the writ of summons and the statement of claim which ordinarily ought to contain averments of facts as to when the wrong committed by the Defendant took place and compare it with the date when the writ of Summons was filed.

– Oseji, JCA. SIFAX v. MIGFO (2015)

DETERMINATION CONFINED TO CAUSE OF ACTION

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NATURE OF A CAUSE OF ACTION

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JUDICIAL POWERS IS UNAVAILABLE FOR RIGHTS NOT INFRINGED

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THE LAW FOR DETERMINING A CASE IS THE LAW AS AT THE TIME CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE

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ACCRUAL OF RIGHT VS CAUSE OF ACTION

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DETERMINING THE EXISTENCE OR NONEXISTENCE OF A CAUSE OF ACTION

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ASCERTAIN WHEN CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUED

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