In the case of VICTOR ISONGUYO VS STATE (2023) 3 NWLR (PT. 1872) 519, the Supreme Court held thus: “A court should not decide a case on mere conjecture or speculation. Court of laws are courts of facts and law. They decide issues on facts established before them and on law. They must avoid speculation. A court cannot decide issues on speculation, no matter how close what it relies on may seem to be on the facts. Speculation is not an aspect of inference that may be drawn from facts that are laid before the Court. Inference is a reasonable deduction from facts, whereas speculation is a mere variant of imaginative guess which, even when it appears plausible should never be allowed by a court of law to feel any hiatus in the evidence before it.”
A COURT OF LAW CANNOT SPECULATE
A court of law acts on reality, i.e. what has actually taken place or is taking place at the time of complaint. Hardly has speculation any place in law. If there is allegation, then there must be proof to substantiate that allegation. – Tanko, JCA. El-Rufai v. House of Representatives (2003) Was this dictum helpful?...