A-G., ANAMBRA STATE V. C.N. ONUSELOGU ENT. LTD.

• Pages: 50-66

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NIGERIAN SUPREME COURT CASES

[56-88] (MS)N.S.C.C.

A-G., ANAMBRA STATE V. C.N. ONUSELOGU ENT.

LTD.

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A.G. ANAMBRA STATE,

V

C.N. ONUSELOGU ENT. LIMITED,

APPELLANT

RESPONDENT

SUIT NO. SC. 12

2

/

1

986.

1C

SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA

ESO,



J.S.C.

NNAMANI,



J.S.C.

KAW U



J.S.C.

OPUTA,



J.S.C.

BELGORE,



J.S.C.

20th November 1987.

Practice and Procedure - Pleadings - Purpose - Effects - Specific Plea - General denial -

Effects - Plaintiffs case - Defects - Defendant's case - Weakness - Reliance on - Propriety

- Appellate Count - Powe

~

s - Fresh matters.

Damages - General damages - Special damages - Proof of - Onus of proof in Ton, - Onus

of proof in Contract - Differences.

ISSUES:

1.

What are pleadings?

2.

What is the purpose of pleadings?

3.

Whether there is a burden on a claimant to specially prove and plead special

damages being claimed by him in an action for breach of contract.

4.

Whether a mere general denial of a paragraph of the statement of defence is

sufficient traverse where the paragraph of the statement of claim made specific

pleas of some items of the claim.

5.

Whether an appellate court can entertain matters that were not in issue at the trial

court but raised on appeal.

6.

Whether a plaintiff who has not discharged the burden on him can rely on the

weakness of the defence's case to make up for the defect in his own case.

FACTS:

The respondent was the plaintiff While the appellant was the defendant in the High

Court. The plaintiff was awarded a contract by the defendant for the construction of

some roads linking some towns in Anambra State. The value of the contract was

N6,738,585.00 and was to be completed in 78 weeks.

The contract according to the terms was to be paid for instalmentally on presen-

tation of interim certificates signed by the agent of the State Government and pay-

ment was to be effected within 28 days of such presentation. The State Government

paid fully the first 14 interim certificates on presentation and made a part payment

on certificate No. 15, when the agent refused to sign any further interim certificates

claiming he had instructions to do so. Thus when certificate No.16 was presented

forthe sum of N500,000.00, it was not signed. Nevertheless, the contractor remained

on the site and had to stop work due to lack of funds following the failure of the State

Government to pay and he could not pay compensation due to villages located along

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A-G., ANAMBRA STATE V. C.N. ONUSELOGU ENT. LTD.

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the road. The State Government eventually terminated the contract. The contrac-

tor then sued the State government for breach of contract claiming special and

general damages to the tune of N3,590,000.73 Judgment was given to the respond-

ent in the sum of 42,326,395.86.

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The defendant appealed to the Court of Appeal and his appeal succeeded in part.

The award of M00,000.00 for work done but uncertified on certificate No. 16 was

set aside, one of the items of the plaintiffs claim was rejected because the surveyor's

report which was tendered in evidence was not annexed to the statement of claim

and other remaining awards were varied.

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The appellant still not satisfied further appealed to the Supreme Court and the re-

spondent cross appealed against the variation made in the damages as awarded by

the trial court. It was the appellant's contention that the pleadings of the respond-

ent was insufficient as regards the special damages claimed and that the lower courts

erred in their award of special damages which were not specifically proved by the

15 respondent.

The respondent on the other hand contended that the Court of Appeal erred in

varying the award of damages especially the sum of N500,000.00 for work done on

interim certificate No. 16 since at the trial court no mention was made as to the in-

sufficiency of the respondent's statement of claim with regards to the sum of

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N500,000.00 and that the appellant not having traversed the claim in its statement

of defence, it is now too late for them to raise an objection to his statement of claim.

HELD:

1.

Pleadings are statements of facts that a party relies upon to prove his claim and

it is always meant to give sufficient notice to the other party of the case he is

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being called to face. Every pleading must contain a statement of all facts and

not the evidence by which those facts are to be proved. Each fact in logical

sequence will be in numbered paragraphs stating clearly without ambiguity what

the allegation is that must be met by the other side. All facts which are material

to a party's case are relevant and must be stated.

Esso West Africa incorporated

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v.

L. Oladiti.

2.

The purpose of pleading is to put the other side on the alert as to what he is

going to meet. A party dragged to court must know what he is being accused

of; he must know what the allegations against him are. Therefore it is the

requirement of practice that every fact necessary for a party's case must be

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positively, distinctly, briefly and unambiguously stated so that the full information

the adversary needs to know about the case he is meeting will be known

Esin

v. Matzen and Timm (Nig.) Ltd.

Where there is no derogation from the basic rule

that pleadings should contain only statements of fact and not evidence by which

those facts are to be proved, Fraud, statutory exception, defence of laches

res

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ipsa loquitor

are special matters that must be facts leading to law and to be

supported by evidence at the trial. The pleading of the documents by the

respondent in this case may be inelegant but there is certainty as to the claim

and the appellant was certainly in no doubt as to what he was going to meet.

3.

That the law that special damages must be strictly proved applies to cases of

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tort in which a party claiming damages for injuries must specifically plead the

injuries and damages suffered therefrom and proceed by evidence to prove

them. In a matter of contract where there is evidence to support a pleading of

special damages suffered, and the evidence is convincing without contradiction

and the trial court accepts that evidence, the appellate court will not

interfere

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with any award of that claim. The law does not presume special damage and it

must be specifically pleaded because it arises by special circumstances of the

case

Oshinjirin v. Elias.

In this case there is specific pleading as to special

damages and there is ample evidence of the appellants agent as to collation of