By Ndi Aquaisua, Esq.

The right of appeal after the conclusion of a case in a lower Court is a Constitutional right of all Nigerians. Appealing a matter to a superior Court is very important in legal practice because a litigant who lost at the lower Court still stands a chance of becoming victorious at the superior Court if he is lucky to get the judgment of the lower Court upturned by the superior Court.

The Constitutional right of appeal of a citizen becomes a mirage due to the uphill task of going on appeal from Uyo to Calabar.

Akwa Ibom State shares the same Court of Appeal Division with Cross River State; my concentration today is on appeals from High Courts in Akwa Ibom State to the Court of Appeal in Calabar, Cross River State.

The suffering and hardship that both lawyers and litigants go through in the process of filing appeals from High Courts in Akwa Ibom State in the Court of Appeal in Calabar and also following it up till judgment is delivered is better imagined than experienced.

In Akwa Ibom State, cases are taken extremely seriously at High Courts because no one wants to go on appeal due to the challenges involved. As a result of the above, young lawyers from Akwa Ibom State do not have opportunity of going to the Court of Appeal in Calabar on their own to learn the proceedings because of proximity, high cost of transportation, risks etc. Even when their offices have cases at the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division, it is always more convenient to send only one or two senior lawyers to go.

The challenges and hardship faced by lawyers and litigants are enormous but I will only mention a few of them.

The road is bad and can best be described as a death ‘trap’. In the distant past when the road was manageable, a trip from Uyo to Calabar was about one and a half hours. It was possible then to travel in the morning and arrive Court of Appeal complex in Calabar before 8:00 a.m. and still have ample time to relax and prepare for your appeal matter as the court sits by 9:00 am.

Due to the condition of the road, lawyers and litigants spend about five hours to get to Calabar. During rainy season, trucks and articulated vehicles get spoilt, fall across the road or get stuck on the road easily. Lawyers and litigants always end up spending close to six hours on the road. From the above explanation, a lawyer traveling from Akwa Ibom State to Calabar will approximately spend about twelve hours on the road in order to go to Calabar and return to Akwa Ibom State; most times, lawyers end up sleeping on the road till the next day. It is risky travelling by road using the bad and narrow Calabar – Itu highway with uncountable number of trucks loaded with stones, stone base and hardcore chippings from Akamkpa in Cross Rivers State.

If the road leading to Calabar from Akwa Ibom State, which is a “trunk A” road is in good condition, the journey will not be more than one hour thirty minutes or even less than that depending on what your are driving and how you are driving it.

The financial cost of embarking on an appeal is astronomical. Due to the bad road from Uyo to Calabar it is practically impossible for a lawyer to travel from Uyo to Calabar for a Court of Appeal matter that same day and expect to meet up. Senior lawyers resort to travelling a day to the Appeal matter and sleep over in Calabar where they will go for the matter the following morning. After their case(s), some might decide to travel back to Uyo while some might decide to stay back and travel the next day being the third day.

All these expenses: the transportation, hotel bill for two nights, feeding and other miscellaneous expenses will all have to be borne by the litigant. In a nutshell, the expenses for each Court of Appeal trip is estimated at about N70,000.00 per trip till judgment is delivered in the matter. This excludes professional and filing fees.

Travelling by water is highly risky. This is the fastest means of getting to Calabar. A boat ride is only about thirty five minutes from Oron Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State to Calabar in Cross River State. A lawyer can travel to Calabar for his appellate matter and come back that same day to still meet up with other important engagements. Boat rides are often reserved for young lawyers who are not interested in making money but are determined to go to Court of Appeal, Calabar, Division to go and learn and gather experience in appellate matters.

Insecurity also is a major problem. The rate of insecurity in the roads and waterways is very high. The spontaneous boundary fights/disputes between waring communities along the road which always results in loss of lives also affects lawyers and litigants.

Delay is often the case when it comes to Court of Appeal cases. There are a lot of cases pending at the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division and a great number of them emanate from Akwa Ibom State. The workload on the Justices of the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division is too much and this might also be one of the reasons why most Appeal matters last up to four (4) years in court. This kind of delay is enough to discourage a litigant from going on appeal. Establishing a Court of Appeal Division in Akwa Ibom State will no doubt help to reduce the workload on the court. It will also rejuvenate the interest in litigants to go on appeal if they are dissatisfied with the. Judgment of lower Courts having in mind that judgment will be delivered within the shortest possible time.

With the challenges explained above, it is very difficult for most litigants residing in Akwa Ibom State to exercise their right of appeal after judgment has been delivered in their matter due to how exorbitant it is and in addition the stress involved. Some litigants give up their right to appeal once they hear that the Court of Appeal is in Cross River State and also the financial cost and the attendant risk involved.

Despite the suffering and hardship that residents of Akwa Ibom State go through as a result of not having a Court of Appeal Division in the State; It is unbelievable that Akwa Ibom State being an oil rich State also parades great legal personalities who ought to be at the forefront of the campaign for the establishment of a Court of Appeal Division in the State are silent. Some of these great legal personalities include: Mr. Paul Usoro, (SAN), the immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), His Excellency, Senator Barr. Godswill Akpabio, (Minister of Niger Delta Affairs), His Excellency, Ambassador Assam Assam, (SAN), Her Excellency, Barr. Mrs. Valerie Ebe, immediate past Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Barr. Effiong Bob,; Senator Barr. Udo Udoma, Senator Barr. Ita Enang, Hon. Barr. Onofiok Luke, (current Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary), Uko Essien Udom, (SAN), Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Enefiok Essien (SAN), Uwemedimo Nwoko, (SAN), Chief Ekpenyong Ntekim,; Chief Victor Iyanam; Comrade Ini Ememobong, Esq, Akpadiaha Ebitu, Esq., Godwin Udoh, Esq. Etim Offiong, Esq. etc.

I most respectfully call on the Chairman, National Judicial Council (NJC), Honourable Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (CFR) and the President of the Court of Appeal, Honourable Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem to come to our rescue by approving the establishment of a Court of Appeal Division in Akwa Ibom State.

Lastly, with all due respect and humility, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari led APC federal government to come to our rescue by helping us put the road leading to Calabar from Uyo in a good and motorable condition.

Ndi Aquaisua, Esq.
Uyo Based Legal Practitioner