The legal burden on the plaintiff to plead and prove his claims for declaratory reliefs on the evidence called by him, without relying on the evidence called by the defendant is well-settled. See A.G. Rivers State v. A.G.Bayelsa State & Anor (2012) LPELR – 9336(SC); (2013) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1340) 123 and Dumez (Nig.) Ltd. v. Nwakhoba (2008) 18 NWLR (Pt. 1119) 361 at p. 374, paras. A-B, where this court per Mohammed, JSC (as he then was) observed:
“The burden of proof on the plaintiff in establishing declaratory reliefs to the satisfaction of the court is quite heavy in the sense that such declaratory reliefs are not granted even on admission by the defendant where plaintiff fails to establish his entitlement to the declaration by his own evidence.”