which requ ires him to enter his defence citing the case of ·AJIBOYE v STATE (1995) 8 NWLR part 414, EKWENUGO v FRN (2008) 15 NWLR part 1111 page 630. He submits further that the lower court has the jurisdict ion to try t he offences as charged and quotes the counts of the charge . He subm its further that the properties in the charge are the properties of the complainap t and not J the Federal Government . He urg~d the court to hold that the lower court has C the jurisdiction to hear the charge . This is the matter before this court in this appeal. It is settled that the duty of an appellate court as stated by Oputa JSC in the case of OREDOTIN v AROWOLO (1989) 4 NWLR part 114 page 172 at 211 is and I quote his lordship as he then was thus - "... appeal is an invitation to a higher court to review the decision of a lower court, to find out whether on proper consideration of the facts placed bef ore it, and the applicable law, that court arrived at a correct decision ." In the -matter before me the Appellants are within their rights to appeal against the Ruling of the .learned magistrate refusin~ their No Case Submission . The Ruling of the court is as contained at page 80 of the records of appeal before me which I have read. The ruling conforms to law as a ruling refusing a No Case Submission must be brief, see the case of ATANO v AG BENDEL STATE (1988) 2 NWLR part 75 at page 201, this prcinciple of law has stood the test of time and was restated in the more recent case of OKO v STATE (2017) LPELR - 42267 (SC) per PETER-ODILI JSC c!t pages 53 - 54 paragraph E. The Ruling of the learned Magistrate was brief and called on the Appellants to enter their defence. It must be pointed out that at this stage the entire evidence is not before the court and that court is not meant to proffer its opinion or evaluate the evidence led by only the prosecution, see also OKO v THE STATE (supra) an.d I must at this stage highlight also the warning of the erudite Chief Justice This is the Judgment delivered by Hon. Justice D.A. Onyefulu on 3/12/2018 Page 5

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