RIGHT OF APPEAL IN CRIMINAL APPEALS: EXPANDING OR EXPOUNDING? AN EXAMINATION OF BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES OMEBIJE ABDULLAHI V NIGERIAN ARMY, IN RE: ABDULLAHI

Abstract

By Section 243(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), a right of appeal in criminal trials inures in favour of an accused person or the Attorney General of the Federation or State as the case may be. The courts have decided that the victim does not have a right of appeal where the trial court acquits the defendant. In the case of Brigadier General James Omebije Abdullahi v Nigerian Army, In Re: Abdullahi (2018) 14 NWLR (pt. 1639) 272 the Supreme Court held that in certain circumstances, there may exist a right of appeal by persons other than the defendant. Commentaries after this decision have tended to argue that the right of appeal in criminal appeals has been expanded to include the victim or his beneficiaries. In other words, there is an expansion of the constitutional right of appeal conferred by section 243(1) (a) of the Constitution. We shall review this case and argue that the Supreme Court has not expanded the constitutional provision but only expounded it within the context of the facts of the instant case. We shall also make recommendations on what to do to expand the constitutional right of appeal in criminal cases.