The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure has affirmed the appointment of Professor Sunday Amuseghan as the Kalasuwe of Apoiland and paramount ruler of the Ijaw communities in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The appellate court dismissed an appeal by Prince Joseph Orire David against the judgment of the Ondo State High Court, which had rejected his challenge to Amuseghan’s selection and appointment to the traditional stool.
Amuseghan, a retired professor at Adekunle Ajasin University and a member of the Ebeli Idumu Ruling House, was appointed by the Ondo State Government in 2018.
Prince David had maintained that a majority of the nine kingmakers selected him before Amuseghan’s appointment. Amuseghan’s counsel, however, challenged the competence of the action, arguing that the registered chieftaincy declaration required the stool to rotate between the Ogele Idumu and Ebeli Idumu ruling houses.
The Court of Appeal agreed that the immediate past monarch came from Ogele Idumu and that, under the rotational arrangement, the next occupant was required to emerge from Ebeli Idumu. It held that Prince David, who acknowledged belonging to Ogele Idumu, was ineligible to contest the stool and consequently lacked standing to challenge the appointment.
The panel, led in its judgment by Justice N. U. Okaisabor, also found that the appellant did not comply with the statutory procedure prescribed under Section 13 of the Ondo State Chiefs Law before commencing the action.
Justices S. Nwaka Gbagi and P. O. Affen concurred with the decision, leaving Professor Amuseghan’s appointment intact.
Follow us on Instagram – www.instagram.com/legalnigeria.