A new online portal has been introduced by the Federal High Court (FHC) in Lagos for the purpose of allowing the public to obtain affidavits from the court.
It has also been reported that the court’s Deputy Chief Registrar Mr. Godwin Long has also arranged an inspection of the facility’s new ICT department headed by Mr. Agwu Charles.
Read Also: Maiduguri Flood: SEMA Bemoans Terrible Situation Report
Agwu explained how the general public can make use of the innovation.
“It is now a norm that the Affidavit for loss of items, age declaration, change of name, etc can now be done via portal.fhc.gov.ng and following the instructors.
“What you just need to do is to login to the site: portal.fhc.gov.ng “, Agwu added.
Shedding more light, DCR Longe explained that at the moment, the portal can only process Affidavits that are non-cases related
“Affidavits filed to support a case are still done manually because of the peculiar disposition in such Affidavits,” Longe said.
He reiterated the need for people to be aware that henceforth, “they don’t necessarily have to be physically present to procure the type of Affidavits mentioned above.”
The practice direction is as follows:
ORDER I
Applicability: These Practice Directions shall save to the extent as may be otherwise directed by the Chief Judge, apply to E- Affidavits issued from the Federal High Court of Nigeria.
ORDER II
Objectives and guiding principles
- Whereas E-Affidavits issued by the Federal High Court are accepted globally and internationally, the purpose of this Practice Directions is to carry into effect for various purposes, the new E-Affidavit regime to be adopted by the Court particularly in;
- Ensuring efficient, transparent and prompt issuance of E-Affidavits in compliance with global best practices.
- Protecting the interests of litigants and other users who desire the use of e-Affidavit.
- Regulating standard of issuance of E-Affidavit upon payment of prescribed fees.
ORDER III
Implementation of E-Affidavit Regime
- Without prejudice to the provisions of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019 and the Oaths Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010; all E-Affidavits of the Federal High Court shall emanate from the designated E-filling Unit of the Court.
- The e-Affidavit shall be in an electronic format with such specialized features as approved by the Court.
- The application shall be made online from the official website of the Court.
- The E-Affidavit software would be implemented by the E-filling Unit under the supervision of the Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigation).
- For the purpose of swearing to an e-Affidavit under this provision, a deponent to the e-Affidavit shall upload his application electronically through a platform approved by the Chief Judge.
- A task force shall be set up under the hand of the Chief Judge to give effect to this innovation.
- The cost of each e-Affidavit shall be as approved and/or reviewed by the Chief Judge from time to time.
- The Honorable, the Chief Judge may review these Practice Directions and/or issue further directives upon any prevailing circumstance.
Order IV
Citation
These Practice Directions shall be cited as the Federal High Court (Practice Direction on E-Affidavit), 2024
Commencement
These Practice Directions shall take effect from the 1st day of July 2024.
Explanatory note
- The e-Affidavit shall not be a replacement for the manually sworn affidavit.
- The aim of these Practice Directions is to ensure data protection in a user-friendly automated system of deposing to E-Affidavits.
