Testimony
Testimony is the assertion of a witness in court given in evidence as the truth of the fact he is asserting. It could also be described as judicial evidence which may be oral or documentary and includes formal admissions: Ekanem Ita v Fetuga (1991) 7 NWLR (Pt. 204) 449.
Competency and Compellability of Witnesses: Background
A witness is said to be competent if his testimony will be admissible. A competent witness is one considered in law as a fit and proper person to testify. On the other hand, a witness is compellable if he can be obliged to give evidence. In other words, a witness is competent if his evidence can be admissible in court or his testimony admissible; while a witness is compellable if he can be obliged or compelled to give evidence. Any compellable witness who refuses to give evidence may be punished for contempt of court.
It can then be said that every compellable witness is a competent witness; but not every competent witness is a compellable one. Accordingly, for a witness to be compellable, he must necessarily be competent. An incompetent witness is thus not compellable. For example, a wife cannot be compelled to give evidence against her husband, if he is the accused except in few circumstances.
Non-compellability should be distinguished from privilege against disclosure. A competent and compellable witness may in certain case claim privilege as a ground for refusing to disclose matter relevant to the issue. His right to refuse to answer questions relates only to questions on the privileged matters. The obligation of the witness to testify on other matters remains unaffected despite the privilege.
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