ALUMINIUM MANUFACTURING COMPANY (NIGERIA) LTD. V. NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY

OBASEKI, J.S.C: (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The question of the limits of the Admiralty Jurisdiction of the Federal High Court as provided by the Federal High Court Act (formerly Federal Revenue Court Decree) 1973 has arisen in only a few cases that have come before this Court on appeal. It has only been incidental to the real question of whether a claim filed before the Federal High Court comes or does not come within the jurisdiction of that Court. That appears to me to be the position in this case and the main question for determination by this Court is this:

"Does the claim of the appellant come within the Admiralty Jurisdiction of the Federal High Court?"

The Federal High Court (Kachikwu, J.) answered this question in the negative and transferred the suit to the Lagos State High Court in pursuance of the powers vested in it by the Federal High Court Act section 22(2).

The Court of Appeal also answered the question in the negative when the matter was taken up there on appea…