It is trite, that the Courts and the parties are bound by the record. An appellate Court is not vested with the vires to factor into a record what is not there nor read out of it what is in it. In other words, it must construe the record in its exact content devoid of interpolation or subtraction.
— O.F. Ogbuinya, JCA. Impact Solutions v. International Breweries (2018) – CA/AK/122/2016
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Otapo v. Sunmonu (1987) 2 N.W.L.R. (Part 58) 587, per Belgore, J.S.C., at p.624, has stressed the importance of proper recording of proceedings: “It is in the interest of justice that all that is said or raised in court during hearing be taken down in writing that is, be properly recorded. When this is not done and it is through the affidavit of parties that the true records could be known, questions will usually be asked why the court adopted such a procedure.”
– Achike JCA. Adeyemi v. Edigin (1990)
This Court had held that an Appellate Court has no jurisdiction to read into the record what is not there and it equally has no jurisdiction to read out of the record what is contained therein. Both are forbidden areas for an Appellate Court. An Appellate Court must read the record in its exact content and interpret it.
– H.M. Ogunwumiju, JSC. State v. Ibrahim (2021) – SC.200/2016
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