Competence and Compellability of Witnesses in Nigeria: Who Can Testify and Who Must

Picture a murder trial where the accused person's wife is the only witness to what happened in their home that night. The prosecution wants to call her. She does not want to testify against her husband. Can the prosecution compel her? Does she have a choice? And what happens if the accused himself wants to testify in his own defence? These questions are answered by the rules of competence and compellability. They are distinct concepts that govern who may give evidence and who can be forced to give it. Understanding them matters not just as a theoretical exercise but as a...

31 May

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Electronic Evidence and Section 84 of the Evidence Act 2011: Admissibility of Computer-Generated Documents

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

In 2012, a governorship election in Bayelsa State was challenged at the election tribunal. The appellants tendered a computer printout from the INEC website and an online version of a newspaper article as exhibits. Both were admitted at the tribunal. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, the court struck out both exhibits because the appellants had never fulfilled the pre-conditions for admission of electronic evidence under section 84(2) of the Evidence Act 2011.¹ The election petition failed partly as a result. Electronic evidence is now at the centre of nearly every significant case in Nigeria, from election petitions to corruption...

29 May

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Documentary Evidence: Primary, Secondary and the Rules of Tendering

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

When a defendant in a land case claims that they have a deed of conveyance showing they legitimately purchased the disputed land in 1979, the court will want to see that deed. Not a description of it. Not a witness saying "I know there is a deed." The deed itself. This is the foundational principle behind documentary evidence: the document speaks for itself, and the law has developed precise rules about how documents must be produced, who must produce them, and what happens when the original is not available. Documentary evidence is at the centre of nearly every Nigerian court proceeding....

29 May

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Facts Not Required to Be Proved: Judicial Notice and Notorious Facts in Nigeria

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

Imagine a trial judge in Lagos who is told, in the middle of a contested criminal matter, that counsel needs to call three witnesses to prove that Lagos State is part of Nigeria. The judge would be right to stare in disbelief. Some facts are so obvious, so universally known, or so well-established in law that requiring formal proof of them would be a waste of everyone's time and an insult to common sense. The law recognises this. Not every fact that is relevant to a case needs to be formally proved through witnesses and documents. Three categories of facts are...

29 May

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The Doctrine of Estoppel in Nigerian Evidence Law: Types, Operation and Limits

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

A developer tells a farmer in Ogun State: "Do not worry about the fence. Build your house right up to the boundary. I will never enforce my right to the fence line." The farmer, relying on this representation, spends his savings building up to the boundary. Three years later, the developer sells the land to a new buyer who immediately sues the farmer for trespass. Can the new buyer enforce the fence line? The doctrine of estoppel says no, or at least it makes it very difficult. The developer made a representation. The farmer acted on it to his detriment. The...

29 May

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Presumptions Under the Evidence Act 2011: How Nigerian Courts Assume Facts

Posted by Kolawole Adebowale

in Class Notes, Evidence Law

A woman's husband travels to Kano for business in 2015. He calls her once from the road and is never heard from again. Seven years pass. No letter. No phone call. No word through any family member or mutual acquaintance. In 2022, the woman wants to remarry. Must she produce proof that her husband is dead before she can do so, or does the law help her? The law helps her. After seven years without being heard from, her husband is presumed dead under section 164 of the Evidence Act 2011. She does not need a death certificate. She does not...

28 May

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