In an action for breach of contract instituted at the Onitsha Judicial Division of the Anambra State High Court Judgment was given in favour of the Respondent as the plaintiff for N5.5 million ‘damages’ with N10,000 costs against the three Appellants, a corporate body established by the Federal Government of Nigeria and her two principal officers, as the Defendants.

The breach arose from a building contract awarded to the Respondent, a firm of building contractors, for construction for the 1st Appellant of an Administrative Complex at Sheda Village in Abuja for the sum of N4.9 million payment for execution of the contract for which no mobilization fee was advanced to the Respondent was by valuation of the work executed by the 1st Appellant’s Consultant Architect who issued a Certificate of Completion for the level of the work done. The value of the certificate became credit in favour of the Respondent for payment on its presentation to the 1st Appellant. The execution of the contract proceeded under that arrangement up to Certificate No. 11 issued by the Consultant architect on 19/10/90 for the payment of which the 1st Appellant issued to the Respondent a cheque for N97,234.79 drawn on her account with the Central bank of Nigeria, hereinafter contracted to ‘the CBN’. The Respondent paid the cheque into her account with the Cooperative and Commerce Bank of Onitsha, hereinafter called ‘the CCB’, for clearance with the CBN. But when the CCB presented the cheque to the CBN for payment it was returned unpaid marked ‘self confirmation required’. The cheque was again represented to the CBN for payment on more than two other occasions on each of which it was returned unpaid with the same endorsement of ‘self-confirmation required’ as on the first occasion. That was the position until the cheque was replaced by the 1st Appellant with another cheque of the same value, which was eventually paid in June 1991.

Against the factual background, the Respondent instituted the action on appeal against the three Appellants claiming from them jointly and severally the sum of N25,000,000 as damages on the ground that she suffered losses by the protracted delay in paying the cheque, a delay which the Respondent claimed was attributable to the Appellants’ failure or neglect to comply with the CBN’s laid down procedure for withdrawing money by the bank’s account holders. The court below found the 1st Appellant negligent and in breach of her contract with the Respondent and awarded, as I have noted earlier, to the Respondent N5.5 million damages with N10,000 costs against the three Appellants jointly and severally.

The appellants being dissatisfied with the decision filed the present appeal.