After the judgement of an Enugu High Court on 15th June 1999, applicant filed a motion for stay of execution before that Court of Appeal on 16th December 1999. It had earlier on the 15th of December, filed a motion seeking substantially the same relief.

Respondent, on 14th January, 2000, filed a preliminary objection to the application for stay of execution on the ground that it was not competent.

Respondent’s argued that the filing of two similar motions was an abuse of the process of that court. Applicant contended that there was no abuse of process in filing the motion for stay of execution at the Court of Appeal because as at the date, the motion for stay filed in the High Court had been disposed of, that, moreover, the motion filed at the High Court on 15th December, 1999 is not the same as that filed at the Court of Appeal on 16th December, 1999 because the prayers are not the same.