Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel for the Kano State chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, has asserted that the Court of Appeal lacks the authority to make alterations to the Certified True Copies (CTC) of its judgment. This statement follows the confusion surrounding the court’s decision to remove the state governor, Abba Yusuf, which revealed discrepancies between the oral pronouncement in open court and the content of the CTC of the judgment.
The Chief Registrar of the Appeal Court, Umar Bangari, attributed the mix-up in the CTC to a clerical error and cited Order 23 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Handbook as granting the court the power to correct any clerical error once identified by the court or any of the involved parties.
In response to a letter from the Deputy Chief Registrar, Olanipekun contested the court’s authority, stating that only the Supreme Court could hear any application for correction of errors. The statement emphasized the court becoming functus officio in the matter on November 18, 2023, and cited Section 285(7) of the Constitution, which prohibits the Court of Appeal from taking any further steps in the appeal or subject after the expiration of 60 days.
The letter read in part, “Assuming without conceding that the judgment has some errors, whether typographical or otherwise, we humbly and dutifully draw your attention to the fact that the Court of Appeal became functus officio in the matter on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Any application for correction of errors can only be entertained by the Supreme Court.”
Olanipekun also highlighted that judicial precedents provide guidance on the procedure to follow and which court has jurisdiction to handle such an application after the expiration of the constitutionally mandated 60 days.