Facts:

The appellant commenced a suit against the respondents jointly and severally at the High Court of Lagos State by a writ of summons and a statement of claim filed on 19th November1996. The appellant claimed N447,000 as value of a bank draft and N5 commission on the draft, which the appellant alleged the1st respondent negligently issued to the 2nd respondent, but was debited against the appellant’s account. The appellant also claimed damages and interest on the various sums of money claimed in the suit.

The appellant pleaded in its statement of claim that it maintained one account with the 1st respondent and another account with 2nd respondent. On 2nd April 1990, the appellant instructed the 1st respondent to issue a bank draft in the sum of N447,000 to the order of the appellant and that the draft should be paid into the appellant’s account with the 2nd respondent. But the 1st respondent erroneously issued the draft to the order of the 2nd respondent and delivered it on 4th April 1990 to the 2nd respondent who acknowledged it by endorsing its stamp thereon. Subsequently, while the appellant was reconciling its account at its head office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, it discovered the error and it wrote to the 1st respondent to demand for clarification about the wrong payment without any effective result. So, it filed the suit. The appellant, however, did not specifically plead when it discovered the error made by the 1st respondent.

The 1s respondent denied liability by its statement of defence. It also filed an application for dismissal of the suit for being statute barred. And the appellant filed a counter-affidavit in opposition to the application. After hearing arguments on the 1st respondent’s application, the trial court held that the appellant’s suit was statute-barred and dismissed the suit. Aggrieved by the decision, the Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Court dismissed the appellant’s appeal. Further aggrieved by the decision, the Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court.