Jurisdiction and competence of action

Jurisdiction is the authority of a court to entertain a matter pre sented before it. A competent action infuses jurisdiction into a court and makes it amenable to adjudication. The converse is true. An incompetent suit dispossesses a court of the jurisdiction to entertain it. Put strictly, the competence or incompetence of an action is a jurisdictional issue. There is therefore no distinction between jurisdiction and competence of action. Madukolu v. Nkemdilim (1962) 2 SCNLR 341