CIVIL JURISDICTION OF COURTS IN NIGERIA

Jurisdiction refers to the power or authority of the court to adjudicate over a specific subject matter. Jurisdiction is a matter of law, so usually the Constitution or the law creating the court will prescribe it's jurisdiction.

TYPES OF JURISDICTION
There are different types of jurisdiction, these are:

1. Limited and Unlimited Jurisdiction: when the Jurisdiction of a court is limited this means that the court has jurisdiction to adjudicate over specific matters but not over every matter (I.e the Jurisdiction of the court is restricted to specific matters). Whereas, where jurisdiction is unlimited it means the court can adjudicate over all matters. Presently, no court in Nigeria has unlimited jurisdiction. Previously, the State High Court used to have unlimited jurisdiction.

2.  Territorial Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of certain courts is limited to their geographical location. For instance, the jurisdiction of the High Court of a state is limited to their respective states. See OGBUANYIYA v OKUDU

3. Divisional Jurisdiction: Certain courts are divided into judicial divisions. The division into judicial divisions is however merely for administrative convenience. Thus, commencing an action in the wrong division will not vitiate proceedings.

4. Constitutive Jurisdiction: This means for a court to properly exercise jurisdiction over a matter it must be constituted by the required number of judges/justices.

5. Original, appellate and exclusive jurisdiction: A court is said to have original jurisdiction where it presides over a matter as a court of first instance. A court has appellate jurisdiction where appeal from a matter in a lower court lies to it. Similarly, a court is said to have exclusive jurisdiction where it has the right to hear a matter to the exclusion of all other Courts.

6. Procedural and Substantive Jurisdiction: Procedural Jurisdiction refers to the procedure of law by which a matter is brought. Lack of procedural jurisdiction may not vitiate proceedings as the parties can waive it. See MOBIL v LASEPA. Substantive jurisdiction on the other hand refers to the powers of the court to adjudicate over a specific subject matter. Substantive jurisdiction is so crucial that the parties cannot waive it. Lack of substantive jurisdiction will invalidate proceedings. MAXEELL v UAC

The issue of jurisdiction is so crucial that once it is raised the court must stop itself and consider it; it can also be raised by the court suo motu. See OGUNSANYA v DADA

The issue of jurisdiction can be raised at any stage of the proceedings even for the first time on appeal. However, where raised for the first time on appeal, the leave of court must be sought. OSHATOBA v OLUJITAN

As the court stated in MADUKOLU v NKEMDILIM for the court to properly exercise it's jurisdiction, three things must be present:
1. The subject matter must be that which is within the Jurisdiction of the court.
2. There must be no element in the case to prevent the court from exercising its jurisdiction. (I.e the court must be properly constituted by the right number of judges/justices, each judge/justice must be qualified to seat on the matter etc)
3. The matter must have been brought before the court initiated by due process of law and all conditions precedent must have been fulfilled.