Proceedings. This Rule renders inadmissible “any Statement other than one
made by a Person while giving Oral Evidence in the Proceedings...as evidence
of any Fact or Opinion stated.” Reference is made to Cross & Tapper on
Evidence, Tenth Edition at Page 578, and R V SHARP (COLIN), 86
CR.APP.R AT 274 AT 278 HL.
A Witness is expected to testify in Court on Oath on what he knows
personally. If the Witness testifies on what he heard some other Person say,
his evidence is Hearsay. If on the other hand his Testimony is to establish the
Truth of an Event in question or as in this Case to establish the Truth of the
rendition by one Witness to another, then it is Hearsay and inadmissible
evidence. Hearsay Evidence is therefore Secondary Evidence of an Oral
Statement, best described as Second-Hand Evidence.
What a Witness says he heard from another Person may be unreliable for
many reasons. For example, he may not have understood the
Informant/Interpreters, or he may say things that were never said. The
Witness may even exaggerate or understate the evidence he heard. Such
evidence remains Hearsay Evidence because it cannot be subject to CrossExamination in the absence of the Informant/Interpreters and lacks
probative value. See the Case of FRN VS USMAN & ANOR (2012) LPELR7818(SC) Per RHODES-VIVOUR, J.S.C(PP. 19-20, PARAS. F-C).
Further Reference is made to KAWU, J.S.C (P 11, PARAS C-E) in the Case of
SYLVESTER UTTEH VS THE STATE (1992) LPELR-6239(SC), where His
Lordship, referred to the SUBRAMANIAM CASE, which set the Rule against
Hearsay. See also Section 37 of the Evidence Act, 2011 particularly SubSection (b). See BUHARI V. OBASANJO (2005) 13 NWLR (PT.941) 1 @
317; DOMA V. INEC (2012) ALL FWLR (PT. 628) 813 @ 829;KEKEREEKUN, J.S.C (P. 55, PARAS. B-C). See the Case of OKEREKE V. UMAHI &
ORS (2016) LPELR-40035(SC).
Mr. Japheth Wubon had during his Examination in Chief testified that the
Defendant had personally notified him to honour any Instruction he received
145