What affidavit means
An affidavit is you, putting facts in writing, and swearing they are true.
That oath is the whole point. Anybody can write a letter saying they lost their certificate. An affidavit turns that same claim into sworn evidence, taken before a commissioner for oaths or a notary public, which a court or a bank or a school registrar can accept without you standing there to explain yourself.
The person who swears it is called the deponent. What they swear to has to be facts they personally know, not rumours, not opinions, and not what somebody told them at the gate.
How it is used
In Nigeria you meet affidavits far more often outside a courtroom than inside one. Banks ask for an affidavit of loss before they reissue a cheque book. Schools ask for an affidavit of age declaration when a birth certificate has gone missing. The CAC asks for one when a company name is being changed. Immigration asks for one when two documents spell your name differently.
Inside litigation, affidavits carry the facts in applications that are decided on paper rather than through live witnesses. Your lawyer files an affidavit setting out what happened, the other side files a counter affidavit, and the judge reads both.
Key features
- Sworn before a commissioner for oaths, notary public, or a court registrar
- Contains facts within the deponent's own knowledge, not hearsay or argument
- Signed and dated by the deponent, then stamped and sealed by the person taking the oath
- False statements in one expose the deponent to perjury
- Usually written in numbered paragraphs, one fact per paragraph
How this works in Nigeria
Most affidavits are sworn at a State High Court registry, and the fee is modest, usually a few thousand naira depending on the state. The registry keeps a copy and gives you the sealed original.
A point that trips people up constantly: an affidavit sworn at the High Court of one state is generally accepted across Nigeria, but some federal agencies insist on one sworn at the Federal High Court. Ask the office that wants it before you pay for the wrong one.
Limits and risks
An affidavit proves that you said something on oath. It does not prove the thing you said is true. If the other side files a counter affidavit contradicting yours, the court has to resolve the conflict, sometimes by calling you to be cross examined.
It also cannot be used to smuggle in argument. Paragraphs that read like submissions rather than facts get struck out, and in a badly drafted affidavit that can gut the entire application.
Worth knowing
Swearing to something you do not actually know is perjury, and courts do strike out affidavits where the deponent clearly had no way of knowing what they swore to.