By Kayode Lawal
The Supreme Court has ordered that the legal battle over the Obaro of Kabba-Owe Stool and paramount rulership of Kabba-Owe land in Kogi State be heard afresh and speedily on its merit by the Kogi State High Court.
The apex court on Friday directed that the case be remitted to the Chief Judge of the Kogi State High Court to be assigned to another judge of the court for a fresh hearing.
Justice Stephen Jonah Adah gave the order while delivering judgment in an interlocutory appeal brought before the court by the Obaro of Kabba, Oba Solomon Dele Owoniyi (Otitoleke Oweyomade I).
Judgment in the appeal by Obaro Owoniyi, marked SC/CV/796/2021, was prepared by Justice Heleen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju but read by Justice Adah.
In the judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal delivered on March 31, 2021, which set aside the judgment of the Kogi State High Court of October 10, 2019, that declined jurisdiction in the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs’ case had become statute-barred.
The apex court affirmed that the plaintiffs, who are from the Ilajo family, have locus standi (legal right) because of their claim to be the sole family entitled to produce the Obaro of Kabba.
The Ilajo family, comprising three ruling houses, Ajinuhi, Ajibohokun, and Mokelu, had in 2018 sued the Kogi State Government and Kabba kingmakers following the appointment of Chief Solomon Dele Owoniyi as the Obaro of Kabba.
Oba Owoniyi’s appointment was made pursuant to the Kabba-Owe Chieftaincy Law, which recognizes rotation of the first-class stool between the Akunmejila and Ilajo families.
The last Obaro, the late Oba Michael Folorunso Olobayo, was from the Ilajo family, prompting the appointment by the Kogi State Government and Kabba kingmakers of a candidate from the Akunmejila group in line with the rotatory provision of the law.
The Ilajo family, however, insisted that it has the exclusive right to produce the Obaro, without consideration of any other family.
Those who challenged Oba Owoniyi’s appointment are Chief Henry Oluwole Aiyewumi, nominated by the Ilajo family; Chief Stephen Ojo Beleyi for the Ajibohokun ruling house; Raphael Aiyegunle for the Mokelu ruling house; and Olorunmola Oloruntobi for Ajinuhi—all from the Ilajo family.
Their claims were, however, rejected by the Kogi State High Court in 2019 in a ruling which held that their case had been statute-barred, having not been filed within the time allowed by law, and thus, they lost their claims of exclusivity to the throne.
Specifically, the High Court in Lokoja held that the Ilajo Royal Family had “slept for too long over their right,” having failed to challenge the 1995 Edict that recommended rotation between it and the Akunmejila Royal Family.
The Ilajo Royal Family appealed the case, and the Court of Appeal ruled in its favor, prompting Obaro Owoniyi and the kingmakers to take the case to the Supreme Court.
However, both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have directed that a fresh hearing be conducted speedily into the propriety or otherwise of the appointment, rather than terminating the case through the preliminary objections raised by Obaro Owoniyi.
The unanimous decision of the Supreme Court justices has thus set the stage for a fresh determination of the legality or otherwise of the Kogi State Government’s actions in appointing Obaro Owoniyi.
Reacting to the apex court’s judgment, lead counsel to Obaro Owoniyi, Mr. Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, said that his client remains the Obaro of Kabba and the paramount traditional ruler of Owe land.
The senior lawyer maintained that the Supreme Court only ruled that the plaintiffs’ case be freshly looked into on its merit, and that the decision has not overturned the lawful appointment made by the Kogi State Government.
“When the suit was instituted in 2018 to challenge Oba Owoniyi’s appointment, a preliminary objection to its competence was raised based on jurisdiction, and it was upheld by the State High Court.
“Now that the decision of the High Court on the preliminary objections has been reversed, we are ready for the fresh hearing on the merit of the substantive matter,” he said.
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