Facts:

The respondent Dale Power System Plc as a judgment creditor, applied to the High Court of Lagos for the registration of the foreign judgment in its favour, under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgment Ordinance (Cap. 175 of the L.F.N 1958). The application was heard and granted by Phillips, J. on 13th October, 1997, registering the said foreign judgment of the High Court of Justice, Queens Bench division in England dated 6th June, 1997. In granting the said application, the learned Judge in his order, gave the appellant (judgment debtor) Witt & Busch Limited fourteen days from the date of service of the said order on it, to apply to set aside the said registration of the foreign judgment. The appellant (judgment debtor), filed its application to set aside the said registration, on 23rd June, 1998 – i.e. a period of over eight months. This undoubtedly, was filed out of time of the period so granted by the High Court presided over by Phillips, J, also there was no application for an extension of time by the appellant (judgment debtor) to so file the application.

The application was heard by the same High Court of Lagos, presided over by Ade-Alabi, J. (as he then was) on 30th October, 1998. The learned Judge, set aside the said order for registration granted by Phillips, J and in his judgment, Ade-Alabi, J. never stated that his learned brother, (Phillips, J) had no jurisdiction to make the said order registering the foreign judgment or that the order was a nullity.