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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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13 years after, Appeal Court dethrones Osemawe of Ondo ranti thomas
THIRTEEN years after his installation, the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin, Edo State, has declared the appointment of the Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Festus Adesanoye, as null, void and of no effect. In a unanimous decision, read by presiding Justice Muhammed Muntaka Coomassic, the appellate court upturned the verdict of the Ondo High Court, which upheld Adesanoye�s selection, saying he was not qualified to be appointed as Osemawe. Holding that Adesanoye�s appointment was illegal. Muntaka-Coomassie said the custom before the so-called amendment of the 1958 Ondo State Chieftaincy Declaration was that no great-grandson had ever been appointed Osemawe, while no female member could be so appointed even if she came from the male line of Osemawes. Muntaka-Coomassic said Adesanoye was not qualified under the declaration to be appointed Osemawe, pointing out that the judgment of the lower court upholding appointment was wrong and perverse. The court held that the appointment of any Osemawe must be made within the four corners of the declaration. Adesanoye�s purported appointment was not in accordance with laid down rules and, therefore, not in accordance with section 8 (e) of the Chief Edict No11 of 1984. A contestant to the stool, Prince Francis Adewole had after losing at the high court on January 14, 2002, appealed to the Court of Appeal. Adewole contended that Adesanoye�s approval as Osemawe published in the official gazette of the Chiefs Edict No11 of 1984 dated October 17 1991 was ultra-vires, void and of no effect whatsoever. He also claimed that the purported appointment as Osemawe was contrary to custom and therefore, void and of no effect. Adewole urged the court to restrain Adesanoye from parading himself as Osemawe. He claimed that the trial judge, Justice Coram Oberemo, erred in law when he held that Adesanoye was validly appointed by the military governor of Ondo State on October 16, 1991 without considering his allegation that the approval of the selection of the Oba was null and void because it was given within 21 days after notification. The lower court erred in law in holding that Adesanoye was validly appointed by the military governor when from the undisputed evidence before the court, the said approval contravened section 11 (2) of the Chiefs Law 1984 in that the approval was given five days after notification, Adewole further claimed that the lower court erred in law when he held that Adesanoye�s selection by the kingmakers to be valid despite his evidence and that of his witness which were unchallenged and corroborated by evidence adduced on Adesanoye�s behalf that a great-grand son of a previous Oba which Adesanoye represented had never been made an Osemawe. |
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