From: Godwin Tsa, Abuja
After nine years of litigation,the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has finally struck out a N100m suit filed by Rocstone International Ltd against the National Insurance Commission and two others at the high court of Federal Capital Territory in 2009.
In a unanimous judgment, Appellate court also set aside the ruling of the high court of the Federal Capital Territory,Abuja Division delivered on 24 June,2009.
Justice Peter Ige who delivered the judgment held that Rocstone International Ltd did not give the National Insurance Commission six months notice of its intention to institute the action before it filed the action.
The court agreed with the appellant counsel Chukwuma- Machukwu Ume (SAN) that a letter written by the respondent “cannot by any stretch of imagination be equated with pre action Notice stipulated in Section 51(1)(a)(b)(c) and (d) of NAICOM ACT.
Ige said that the Act demands that particulars stated in it must be met. According to Justice Ige ” the respondent has wholly failed to make any attempt at complying with Section 51 of NAICOM Act.”
He said respondent suit is thus incompetent and moribund and by extension “will not clothe the court with jurisdiction to adjudicate on its subject matter.”
Justice Ige added that the appellate court also found that the respondent did not comply with the agreement entered between it and National Insurance Commission that in the event of dispute they must first go to arbitration before going to court.
He said that “the respondent having entered into agreement with 1st Appellant containing prescription to go to arbitration in case of dispute before recourse to the court cannot turn round to subvert the condition precedent.”
The appellant’s appeal is quite meritorious and the is hereby allowed, Justice Ige held. Other on the panel : Justice Abubakar Datti Yahaya and Justice Tani Yusuf Hassan agreed with the judgment.
Other appellants were the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General of the Federation who were sued along with National Insurance Commission at FCT high court for a breach of contract by the Rocstone International Limited.
Comment on the judgment Ume (SAN) said the matter has reached a closed end after nine years in court because a fresh suit on the matter is already caught by the limitation Act.