Facts:

The respondent entered into a contract with the appellant for the management of a retirement pension scheme for its staff. The contract between the parties went sour and the respondent sought to recover from the appellant the sum of N443,225,466.95 (Four Hundred and Forty Three Million, Two Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixty Six Naira, Ninety Five Kobo). After series of correspondence between the parties, the respondent filed a petition at the Federal High Court, Lagos Division to wind up the appellant and recover the sum stated above plus interest. The respondent alleged that the appellant was indebted to it in the sum stated above and that after repeated demands, the appellant has failed, refused or neglected to pay the said sum and that the appellant was insolvent and incapable of paying its debts.
After being served with the petition, the appellant filed a notice of preliminary objection praying the court for an order to set aside the entire petition on the ground that it was not a juristic person known to law and that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear and determine the petition. The appellant further stated that it had merged with another company and process had been sanctioned by the Federal High Court and that there existed a pending suit between the parties on the same subject matter before another court of competent jurisdiction and as a result the petition was an abuse of court process. The respondent however, filed a motion for an order to advertise the petition in the official gazette and to have it published and circulated in two national newspapers in Nigeria.
The appellant reacted to the motion by filing a counter affidavit opposing the application. The court granted the application of the respondent and adjourned for the hearing of the petition. Aggrieved, the appellant filed another notice of preliminary objection praying the court for an order staying execution and restraining the respondent from giving effect to the order of the court allowing it to advertise the petition for winding up of the appellant. The appellant also sought the order of the court discharging the order and declaring it an abuse of court process and that the court lacked jurisdiction to grant same. The appellant filed yet another albeit similar application seeking the same reliefs. In September 2014, the court delivered its ruling in which it dismissed the appellant’s notice of preliminary objection for lacking in merit.
The appellant was dissatisfied with the ruling of the trial judge and consequently filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division praying it to overrule the trial court. The parties filed their briefs of argument and the respondent incorporated a preliminary objection on the ground that some of the grounds of appeal are incompetent. One of the issues for determination is whether the trial court had jurisdiction to entertain the winding up petition.