The Supreme Court which in pre-independence era was the intermediate appellate court, has since 1963 become the final appellate Court. The jurisprudence of this country acknowledged the need for an intermediate appellate court. The Western State of Nigeria at the time had experimented with the process and established the Western Nigerian Court of Appeal (WNCA). This was short-lived. The Court of Appeal was established by the Federal Court of Appeal Act (No. 43 of 1976), which came into existence in 1976 and was then called the Federal Court of Appeal. Their lordships, – late Justice D. O. Ibekwe and Justice M. Nasir, then Justices of the Supreme Court – provided the initial injection of appellate experience. The Court of Appeal must be eternally grateful to this duo. Today the court is marking its 41 years anniversary even as lawyers are divided over conflicting judgments from the various divisions of the court on matters that are similar. A school of thought led by Joseph Bodunrin Daudu SAN, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association believes that there is nothing wrong with the conflicting judgments since the apex court is there to correct any error. But majority of lawyers condemn the conflicting judgments. Justices of the court are appointed by the president of the country on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC). For the office of the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), this appointment is in addition subject to the approval of the Senate. To further strengthen their independence, the constitution provides that salaries of the justices of the court are not determined by any executive fiat but paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The only condition is that, it may not exceed what is recommended by the Federal Revenue and Fiscal Allocation Committee. Since the formation of the court in 1976, there have been six presidents of the court and 209 justices in all. The court has had periodic infusion of new justices and new ideas through its existence. The justices of the court are elevated to the apex court, (the Supreme Court) and some retire due to the constitutional retirement age; new ones are appointed from the superior courts of record. The Court of Appeal is primarily an appellate court. It shall be deemed to be duly constituted for the purpose of hearing and determining any appeals, civil or criminal, if it consists of three justices at a sitting. The Court of Appeal hears appeals from the Federal High Court, the High Court of a State, High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Sharia Court of Appeal of a state including Abuja, the Customary Court of Appeal for both Abuja and the states, the Code of Conduct Tribunals, and Election Tribunals; particularly with regards to the National Assembly Election Tribunals, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunals. The Court has original jurisdiction as court of first instance in Presidential Election petitions. At inception, the court had three judicial divisions; Lagos, Kaduna and Enugu. In June 1977, the number was increased to five with the establishment of Benin and Ibadan divisions. Jos division came on stream in 1983; Port Harcourt division in 1989 and Abuja division in 1996. Two judicial divisions were established at Ilorin and Calabar in February 1999, and recently six more divisions were established, in 2009, Sokoto, Owerri, Akure, Ekiti, Yola and Makurdi thus bringing the total number of judicial divisions to 16. In 1976, the number of justices of the Court of Appeal, including the president was fixed at 36 (Act No. 43 of 1976) Cap 95 of 1990 Laws of the Federation increased the number to 41. The 1993 Amendment Act increased the number to 50 and by 2006 the Court of Appeal Act, the number increased to 70. The Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013 recently increased the number to 90. At the headquarters in Abuja, there is the Office of the President who is the Head of the Court. There is also the Office of the Chief Registrar, the Accounting Officer of the Court, who reports directly to the PCA. In each division there is a Presiding Justice (PJ) who is in-charge of the day-to-day management of the division. The PJ reports directly to the PCA. Each division has a minimum of three justices including the PJ. The Court of Appeal has been called the Court of Unity, where you find justices coming from different backgrounds and cultures working together in harmony for the promotion of the administration of justice in the country. Apart from been called the Court of Unity, there is also what can be described as modernization of the Court under the current leadership which has instituted a comprehensive modernization of its existing operational system in a ground –breaking way that blends judicialism and technology]]>