Supreme Court Gives Verdict on 20-Year-Old Emirship Tussle

• The Supreme Court has reversed the decision of the Kebbi State High Court reinstating the 19th Emir of Gwandu, Al-Mustapha Jokolo
• According to the apex court, Jokolo failed to explore the available mechanism provided by law before seeking redress at the court
• Jokolo was dethroned in 2005 under controversial circumstances, and the traditional ruler subsequently sought redress at the Kebbi State High Court

The Supreme Court has nullified the judgment of the Kebbi State High Court that dismissed the deposition of the 19th Emir of Gwandu, Al-Mustapha Jokolo, stating that the dethroned Emir filed his suit without exhausting the mandatory domestic resolution mechanism that the law recommended.

In a split judgment of three to two on Wednesday, June 4, the Supreme Court maintained that the deposed Emir, Jokolo, did not follow the laid-down legal process before filing the suit.

Why Supreme Court reversed reinstatement of Jokolo

Justice Emmanuel Agim, who delivered the lead judgment, explained why the prosecutor may seek judicial intervention, the Section 5(4) of the Kebbi State Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law must first be adhered to. The section requires that a formal complaint be submitted to the governor before proceeding with the litigation.

According to The Punch, 20 years ago, Jokolo was dethroned under controversial circumstances, and the deposed traditional leader subsequently sought his reinstatement at the Kebbi State High Court in 2005.

The judgment of the trial court favoured him in 2014, and the Sokoto Division of the Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the decision in 2016. The two courts ordered his reinstatement.

However, the judgment was challenged at the Supreme Court by the current Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Ilyasu-Bashar and the Kebbi State Government.

Supreme Court changes Kabir emir's judgment date

The verdict was originally scheduled for delivery on June 6, but the Supreme Court forwarded the ruling to June 4 because of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.

According to the Supreme Court, Jokolo failed to serve a pre-action notice on the Kebbi state governor, which was an important step in initiating the suit.

The apex court then agreed with the applicant, stating that the defendant's failure to seek resolution at the administrative level makes the suit incompetent.

Justice Agim, in his judgment, ruled that Jokolo's failure in the process led the lower courts to lack the jurisdiction to hear the matter, which led to the setting aside of the whole legal proceedings as well as the ruling of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

The court held that the suit was filed prematurely without complying with what the law says, saying that "The trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, and its decision is therefore null and void."

Supreme Court gives judgment on 36 governors vs FG

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Supreme Court has struck out a suit filed by the Nigerian Governors' Forum and the 36 states against the federal government.

According to the suit, the governors are challenging the application of the federal government to recover looted funds.

The Supreme Court ruled that the governors had wrongly filed a suit which did not fall within its jurisdiction.

Source: Legit.ng