The core of the Defendant's defence as pleaded is the statutory bar in Section 83(1) of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Acts Cap. 323 Laws of the Federation 1990 (NRC Act) that action shall not be brought against the Defendant after 12 months from the accrual of cause of action. The Plaintiff contended that Section 8(1)(a) of the Limitation Law of Lagos State 1994 which provided for a limitation of 6 years instead of Section 83(1) NRC Act applied to the matter. Thus, implying that the instant case is not statute-barred. The matter eventually went to trial and both parties called one witness apiece. At the end of the day, the trial Court found in favour of the Defendant that the Plaintiff's case fell within the ambit and scope of Section 83(1) NRC Act and not having been instituted within the limitation period of 12 months of the accrual of cause of action as prescribed by Section 83(1) NRC, the action is obviously incompetent. The action was accordingly declared statute-barred and struck out accordingly.

Aggrieved by the decision the Plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeal arguing in the main that the cause of action fell within the purview of Section 8(1) (a) of the Limitations Law of Lagos State Cap. 118 as against Section 83(1) NRC Act upon which the decision of the trial Court was grounded. The Court of Appeal (Court below) in a considered judgment unanimously upheld the decision of the trial Court as correct and the Plaintiff's action was held statute-barred. The decision of the trial Court was thus affirmed.

The Plaintiff still feeling aggrieved by the decision of the Court below finally appealed to this Court