PRELIMINARY OBJECTION IS RAISED TO THE HEARING OF AN APPEAL AND NOT AGAINST SOME GROUNDS OF APPEAL

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PRELIMINARY OBJECTION IS RAISED TO THE HEARING OF AN APPEAL AND NOT AGAINST SOME GROUNDS OF APPEAL

by Branham Chima.
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The purpose of a preliminary objection is to try to end or cut short the appeal right from the beginning. It is important to note that a preliminary objection should only be filed against the hearing of the appeal and not against specific grounds of appeal, especially when there are other grounds that can support the appeal. If a preliminary objection is filed against defective grounds of appeal when there are other non-defective grounds, it is not the appropriate procedure and cannot stop the hearing of the appeal.

The above position was affirmed in the recent Supreme Court decision of Peter Obi & Anor. v. INEC & Ors. (SC/CV/937/2023, Thursday the 26th day of October 2023) per U. Abba Aji JSC thus: ‘A preliminary objection is only raised to the hearing of the appeal, and not to a few grounds of appeal. The purport of preliminary objection is the termination or truncation of the appeal in limine. A Preliminary Objection should only be filed against the hearing of an appeal and not against one or more grounds of appeal when there are other grounds to sustaining the appeal; which purported Preliminary Objection is, therefore, not capable of truncating the hearing of the appeal. In such a situation, a preliminary objection is not the appropriate procedure to deploy against defective grounds of appeal when there are other grounds, not defective, which can sustain the hearing of the appeal.’

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