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His Lordship, Hon. Justice I. S. Galadima, Owerri Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, on Thursday 17th May in a judgment dismissed suit over an abuse of court process in a case of P.C. GODSPOWER ENOCH and Anor Vs. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, RIVERS STATE and 2 Ors.
This motion was filed on the 23rd of February, the applicant SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY OF NIGERIA LIMITED Defendant/Applicant sought for An order striking out the Claimants’ claims for being an abuse of the process of this honorable court on the grounds that: Claimants by this suit, seek to enforce the judgment/ruling delivered in suit no. PHC/200M/2004 – P.C. GODSPOWER ENOCH & ANOR V. SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY OF NIGERIA LIMITED & 2 ORS against the Defendant/Applicant by instituting this fresh action against it. And that the said judgment/ruling of the Honorable Court was in favour of the Claimants. Likewise the Defendant/Applicant has fully complied with the orders made by the Court in the said judgment.
The Defendant/Applicant sought for the suit to be struck out accordingly hinged on the fact that by filing this suit, the Claimants have taken a step which is unknown in law in their bid to in essence, enforce the valid judgment of a competent Court of Law. That the judgment of the High Court can neither be reviewed nor varied by this court as same is binding on the parties. It can also not be set aside by this court as doing so will amount to sitting on appeal against the decision of another court of coordinate jurisdiction.
He further stated that the3rd Defendant/Applicant paid the sum of N 5, 093,752.62 respectively to the Claimants as arrears of salaries, emoluments, and allowances they were entitled to.
That if there is any default in complying with any of the orders of the High Court of Rivers State, the Claimants should secure the appropriate legal means but certainly not by instituting a fresh suit. Learned Counsel implores this court to grant his prayers to strike out this suit as same amounts to an abuse.
The Claimants’ counsel maintained that arising from the fact that the Orders granted by the High Court of Justice Port Harcourt are allegedly declaratory in nature, this suit cannot be regarded as an abuse of Court process.
It is argued on, that since the passage into law of the 3rd Alteration Act 2010 which granted this Court exclusivity in handling employment matters in Nigeria, it is not doubtful that the High Courts no longer enjoy concurrent jurisdiction over employment matters and as such the appropriate venue for the Claimants to come for their reliefs is this court.
He finally urged this Court to disregard the application for striking out this cause.
After reviewing the argument of the parties, the Court Presided by Hon. Justice I. S. Galadima expressed thus;
“I have gone through the entire application, the processes, authorities as well as arguments proffered for and against same. In my honest opinion, there is a lone issue for determination which is “whether the suit filed by the Claimants is an abuse of Court Process”.
I had already stated above that the judgment of the Rivers State High Court ordering the payments to these Claimants of all their outstanding salaries, benefits, allowances and emoluments is an executory judgment.
Thus being the case, it will seem right to outrightly state that that judgment remains subsisting and capable of enforcement since it was valid as at the time it was made. The filing of a subsequent suit for the purpose of executing that judgment, does become an illegal step and indeed an abuse of this Court’s judicial process.
Once a court is satisfied that any proceedings before it is an abuse of court process, it has the power, indeed the duty, to dismiss it.
The application is therefore allowed. This suit is accordingly dismissed.
