Section 7: Original Jurisdiction.

(1) The Court shall to the exclusion of any other court have original jurisdiction to try civil cause and matters-
(a) relating to the Revenue of the Government of the Federation in which the said government or any organ thereof or a person suing or being sued on behalf of the said government is a party;
(b) connected with pertaining to the taxation of companies and other bodies established or carrying on business in Nigeria and all other person subject to Federal taxation;
(c) connected with or pertaining to customs and excise duties and export duties, including any claim by or against the Nigeria Customs Service or any member or officer thereof, arising from the performance of any duty imposed under any regulation relating to customs and excise duties and export duties;
(d) connected with or pertaining to banking, banks, other financial institutions, including any action between one bank and another, any action by or against the Central bank of Nigeria arising from banking, foreign exchange, coinage, legal tender, bills of exchange, letters of credit, promissory notes and other fiscal measures;
Provided that this paragraph shall not apply to any dispute between an individual customer and his bank in respect of transaction between the individual customer and the bank;
(e) arising from the operation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act or any other enactment replacing that act or regulating the operation of companies incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act;
[Cap.C20.]
(f) any Federal enactment relating to copyright, patent, designs, trade marks and passing-off, industrial designs and merchandise marks, business names, commercial and industrial monopolies, combines and trusts, standards of goods and commodities and industrial standard;
(g) any admiralty jurisdiction, including shipping and navigation on the River Niger, Benue and their affluents and on such other inland waterway as may be designated by any enactment to be an international waterway, all Federal ports, (including the Constitution and powers of the ports authorities for Federal ports) and carriage by sea;
(h) diplomatic, consular and trade representation;
(i) citizenship, naturalization and aliens, deportation of persons who are not citizens of Nigeria, extradition, immigration into and emigration from Nigeria, passports and visas;
(j) bankruptcy and insolvency;
(k) aviation and safety of aircraft;
(l) arms, ammunition and explosives;
(m) drugs and poisons;
(n) mines and minerals (including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas);
(o) weight and measures;
(p) the administration or the management and control of the Federal Government or any of its agencies;
(q) subject to the provision of this Constitution, the operation and interpretation of this Constitution, in so far as it affects the Federal Government or any of its agencies;
(r) any action proceeding for a declaration or injunction affecting the validity of the executive or administrative action or decision by the Federal Government or any its agencies; and
(s) such other jurisdiction, civil or criminal, and whether to the exclusion of any other court or not as may be conferred upon it by an Act of the National Assembly;
Provided that nothing in the provisions of paragraph (p), (q) and (r) of this sub-section shall prevent a person from seeking redress against the Federal Government or any of its agencies in an action for damages, injunction or specific performance where the action is based on any enactment, law or equity.
(2) The Federal High Court shall have and exercise jurisdiction and powers in respect of treason, treasonable felony and allied offences.
(3) Where jurisdiction is conferred upon the court under subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section, such jurisdiction shall be construed to include jurisdiction to hear and determine all issues relating to, arising from or ancillary to such subject matter.
(4) The jurisdiction conferred by subsection (3) of this section in respect of criminal causes and matters shall, without prejudice to the generality of that subsection and section 64 (3) of this Act, include original jurisdiction in respect of offences under the provisions of the Criminal Code, the Penal code or the Penal Code (Northern Region) Federal Provisions Act being offences in relation to which proceedings may be initiated at the instance of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
[Cap. C38. Cap. P3.]
(5) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other enactment or rule of law, any power conferred on a State High Court or any other Court or similar jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil matter or proceedings shall not extend to any matter in respect of which jurisdiction is conferred on the Court the provisions of this section.
(6) Any decision made after the commencement of this section by any Court of law in any purported exercise of any power under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 or any Federal or State law shall, as from the date of making of the decision be null and void if it -
[Cap. C23.]
(a) has declared the decision invalid or that Court incompetent to exercise exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any of the matter specified under subsection (1) or (2) of section 7 of this Act before it was substituted by this section; or
(b) has conferred or purported to confer on any other Court, apart from the Court, concurrent jurisdiction in respect of the matters specified under section 7 of this section of this act before it was substituted by this section;
Provided that any decision taken by any court other than the court as a result of the power of the concurrent jurisdiction so conferred shall be valid, but all other cases pending in the said other Courts, other than the Appeal Court, shall, at the commencement of this section, abate and the Judge before whom it is pending shall transfer them to the Registrar of the Court to be heard as new suits.
(7) Any delegation to hear and determine any Federal Causes or Matters conferred by any Federal enactment shall be read with such modification to conform with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 and the provisions of this Act.
[Cap. C23]
(8) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the preceding provisions of this section or any other enactment or rule of law, where a tribunal established on or after 31 December 1983, or having effects as if so established, by the Federal Government has jurisdiction to try any matter specified in the preceding provision of this section, the Court shall, as from the making of the enactment conferring such jurisdiction on that tribunal, forthwith and without any further assurance apart from this section, cease to exercise jurisdiction in respect of such matter.
(9) In this section, any reference to-
(a) "civil or criminal proceedings" includes a reference to the proceedings which originate in the court and those brought before the court to be dealt with by the court in exercise of its appellate or supervisory jurisdiction; and
(b) "decision" in subsection (7) includes judgment, decree or order of any court of law.