A statute operates prospectively and cannot apply retrospectively, unless it is made to do so by clear and express terms or it only affects purely procedural matters and does not affect the rights of the parties. In the instant case, the decision of the Court of Appeal was made on the day the 4th Alteration Act bringing into being Section 285 (II) of the Constitution was signed into law and so the matter was ongoing since the alteration being procedural was caught up retrospectively and it was no defence to the situation that the action was already in existence before the change was made to the constitutional provision in section 285.
BELLO BAR’AU GUSAU
And
- ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC)
- ALH. SHABA LAFIAGI
(CHAIRMAN, GUBERNATORIAL
SCREENING COMMITTEE,
NORTH WEST REGION OF ALL
PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) RESPONDENTS
FOR AND BEHALF OF THE
COMMITTEE) - ALHAJI ABDULAZIZ ABUBAKAR YARI
- INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL
COMMISSION (INEC)
SC. 125/2018 decided 21ST FEBRUARY 2019