The Court of Appeal in Akure, Ondo State, has upheld the appointment of Professor Sunday Amuseghan as the Kalasuwe of Apoiland and traditional ruler of the Ijaw people, dismissing an appeal challenging his emergence.
The appellate court affirmed the decision of the Ondo State Government, which appointed Amuseghan, a retired Professor of English at Adekunle Ajasin University and member of the Ebeli Idumu Ruling House, as the Kalasuwe of Apoiland in 2018.
The legal dispute began after Prince Joseph Orire David contested the appointment.
Through his lawyer, Omolegbon Odusola, David filed Suit No. HOK/10/2018 before the Ondo State High Court, seeking to overturn Amuseghan’s appointment.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, thereby validating Professor Amuseghan’s appointment as the traditional ruler of Apoiland and bringing the legal challenge against his emergence to an end.
He argued that he had earlier been selected by a majority of the nine kingmakers and was only awaiting approval by the Ondo State Executive Council before Amuseghan’s appointment.
In response, counsel to Professor Amuseghan, Chief Sola Ebiseni, raised a preliminary objection challenging both the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the court.
He argued that the claimant lacked the legal standing (locus standi) to institute the action because he belonged to the same Ogele Idumu Ruling House as the immediate past monarch, Oba Samuel Adetimehin Oladiran.
Ebiseni contended that the registered declaration governing the chieftaincy recognises only two ruling houses—Ogele Idumu and Ebeli Idumu—and provides for the stool to rotate between them.
Ebiseni, who told the court that the immediate past monarch came from the Ogele Idumu Ruling House, argued that only a candidate from the Ebeli Idumu Ruling House was eligible to contest the vacant stool.
The High Court upheld the preliminary objection and dismissed the suit, prompting Prince David to appeal the decision.
In its judgment, the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice N.U. Okaisabor, with Justices S. Nwaka Gbagi and P.O. Affen concurring, dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the High Court.
The appellate court held that both parties agreed the chieftaincy was regulated by a registered declaration made pursuant to the Chiefs Law, which clearly governs eligibility to the stool.
The court ruled that since the appellant admitted he belonged to the same Ogele Idumu Ruling House as the immediate past traditional ruler, he was ineligible to contest the stool under the rotational arrangement and therefore lacked the locus standi to challenge Professor Amuseghan’s appointment.
The court further held that, as an aggrieved party, the appellant ought to have complied with the provisions of Section 13 of the Chiefs Law before approaching the court, a requirement it found he failed to meet.
With the judgment, the Court of Appeal effectively upheld Amuseghan’s appointment as the Kalasuwe of Apoiland, a first-class traditional stool in Ondo State, also known as the Oba of the Ijaws.
