Competent Witness

A competent witness is a person who is legally qualified to testify as a witness. Although every person is competent to testify, a person must possess some basic characteristics in order to be a witness. It is obvious that every compellable witness is a competent witness. For a person to be witness he must be considered in law as fit and proper for his testing to be received in evidence. According to S. 175(1) of the Evidence Act 2011, “All persons shall be competent to testify unless the court considers they are presented from understanding the question put to them or from giving rational answers to those questions by reason of tender years, extreme old age, disease, whether of the body or mind, or any other cause of the saw kind.
In Asuquo Eyo Okon v. The state (1988) ANLR 173 at 186, Agbaje JSC said “since all persons are competent to testify, until the competence of a witness to testify is challenged for the reasons stated in the section there is in my view no obligation on the court to determine the competence of a witness to testify”. According to business dictionary, a competent witness is a mentally fit person with sufficient understanding of the circumstance, note that there is no minimum age limit, a judge may decide whether a child’s evidence can be allowed in civil cases, for example, a child too young to comprehended the solemn nature of an oath is considered unsuitable as a witness. In criminal cases, however, the testimony of a child may be allowed as unsworn evidence. In most cases, the spouse of the accused is considered a competent witness for the prosecution.
Note that a person of unsound mind is not incompetent to testify, unless he is prevented by his mental infirmity from understanding the questions put to him and giving national answers to them. See S. 175(2) E.A. Also section 176 of the evidence act provides that a witness who is unable to speak may give his evidence in any other manner in which he can make it intelligible, as by writing or by signs; but such writing must be written and the signs made in open court.
In all the foregoing category of witnesses, only a child witness is expressly required to undergo a test of competence, following the procedure prescribed.
Step: The court will put questions to a child to test his cognitive ability, to see if he can provide a rational answer. The question need not be related to any fact in issue.
Step II: If he passes the test, the court will then ask him if he understands the duty of speaking under oath or the native of oath.
Step III He will be given an opportunity to testify on oath if he passes the second test and such testimony is as good as that of an adult, it shall not require corroborative evidence in order for the court to convict the accused.
Step IV: If he fails the second test, he shall not be put on oath but will give unsworn evidence.
A trial court is not bound to administer this preliminary test at all time. It is sufficient if the record of proceedings show that the trial judge was satisfied that the child possessed either the requisite mental capacity or understands the duty of speaking the truth or both, so as to make him competent to testify either on oath or as an unsworn testimony.

Nkechi Bright Ewere