The Court of Appeal has clarified the evidential requirements for counter-claims in civil proceedings in the case of ABDULKARIM v. ALU & ORS (2025) LPELR-80145(CA), addressing whether the absence of a separate witness statement on oath renders a counter-claim incompetent.

In the judgment delivered by Justice Ugochukwu Anthony Ogakwu, the court held that the Respondents’ evidence in defence of the main claim was sufficient to support their counter-claim, despite the lack of a distinct witness statement specifically for the counter-claim.

The court noted that the facts relied upon by the Respondents to defend against the Appellant’s main claim were intertwined with the facts underpinning the counter-claim. “One trial was conducted for both, the main claim and the counter-claim.

The facts and evidence used to defend the main claim are the same facts and evidence used to prosecute the counter-claim. The evidence was not pitchforked as evidence on the defence in the main claim and evidence on the counter-claim.

In such circumstances, when the Respondents and their witnesses adopted their respective witness statements on oath and testified, their evidence was both in support of the defence to the Appellant’s claim and in support of the counter-claim… It is therefore not correct that the Respondents did not adduce any evidence in proof of the counter-claim,” Justice Ogakwu ruled (Pp 13–14, Paras E–E).

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