By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice George Oguntade, has expressed concern over the prevalent divergent judicial pronouncements of some superior courts and called for the amendment of the constitution to define the jurisdiction of each of the courts.

Leading eminent jurists and lawyers in Lagos, yesterday, to address the issue of divergent pronouncements of the courts, the Federal High Court and the Investment and Securities Tribunal, IST, he called for the jurisdictions of the courts to be clearly defined.

Participants at the seminar, organised by Capital Market Solicitors Association, CMSA, in addition to the constitutional amendment proposal, suggested that a division could be created at the Federal High Court, where judges woud be encouraged to specialise in capital market matters.

The seminar, chaired by Justice Oguntade, had in attendance, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN, Chief Anthony Idigbe SAN, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade SAN, Professor Fidelis Odittah, SAN, QC, Mrs Muannaya Essien, Dr. Dimgba Igwe, among others.

Chief Ojo, in the second session, spoke on the various non–litigation methods of resolving a broad range of capital market matters in Nigeria, including Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, as well as the administrative options within the Securities and Exchange Commission as the apex Capital Market regulator, the Nigeria Stock Exchange, NSE, and other Self Regulatory Organisations, SRO’s.

CMSA Chairman, Uche Val Obi, said it had become imperative for these divergent decisions to be resolved so as to retain investors’ confidence.

He maintained that it would hamper investment if lawyers who are capital market players could not be sure of which  court to approach between Federal High Court and the Investment and Securities Tribunal, when investment disputes arise.