i have considered the Certificate of Urgency and the annexed Notice of Motion both dated 14th January 2025 together with the supporting affidavit and the annextures thereto. in the motion, the applicant seeks leave to file his intended appeal against the judgement delivered on 16th October 2024 in Kandara Civil Case Number 212 of 2023 out of time. He also prays for stay of execution of the said judgement since the respondent has already commenced the execution process.
I have noted the reasons advanced by the applicant for failure to file his intended appeal within the time prescribed by the law and in my view, they are satisfactory. Since the applicant is aggrieved by the lower court's decision on quantum , i find that its only fair and just that he be allowed an opportunity to exercise his constitutional and statutory right of appeal by allowing the instant application. In my view, allowing the application at this stage even without hearing the respondent will serve the ends of justice better since it will expedite conclusive determination of the dispute between the parties and it will not cause any prejudice on the respondent that cannot be ameliorated by an award of costs.
In the premises, i hereby exercise my discretion and allow the application on the following terms;
i) The applicant is granted leave to file and serve his intended appeal within the next seven (7) days.
ii) Interim stay of execution of the aforesaid trial court's judgement is hereby granted to last for the duration of the leave granted above. For clarity. interim stay of execution shall be in force for the next 7 days.
It is so ordered.