Court Of Appeal Dismisses Two Appeals In Okehi Clan Chieftaincy Dispute

The Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, has dismissed two separate appeals arising from the protracted chieftaincy dispute over the Okehi Clan traditional stool in Rivers State.
The appeals, numbered CA/PH/202/2021 and CA/PH/240/2021, were dismissed on grounds of lack of merit and failure to diligently prosecute the appeal, respectively.
In Appeal No. CA/PH/202/2021, Chief Kingsley Nwaejie challenged a ruling delivered by the Rivers State High Court in March 2021 in Suit No. OHC/69/2019.
The High Court, presided over by Justice I. Wodi, had dismissed his preliminary objection, holding that the suit instituted by HRH Eze Christopher Nwakamma and Chief Charles Nwaejie against HRM Eze E.M.B. Opurum and others did not constitute an abuse of court process.
Delivering the lead judgment on December 6, 2024, Justice E.O. Williams-Dawodu held that the appeal lacked merit and consequently dismissed it.
The appellate court found that the appellant had failed to establish that the parties and subject matter in the other suits he relied upon were identical to those in the pending suit, a requirement necessary to sustain his argument that the action amounted to an abuse of court process.
Justices A.M. Talba and Hannatu Azumi Laja Balogun, who sat on the panel alongside Justice Williams-Dawodu, concurred with the lead judgment.
In his concurring judgment, Justice Talba agreed that the trial judge was right to dismiss the preliminary objection, while Justice Laja Balogun also affirmed that the appeal failed and should be dismissed, with the consequential orders contained in the lead judgment.
In a related development, the Court of Appeal also dismissed Appeal No. CA/PH/240/2021, filed by HRM Eze E.M.B. Opurum against HRH Eze Christopher Nwakanma and others, for want of diligent prosecution.
The proceedings in the second appeal took place on March 29, 2023, before a panel comprising Justices S.T. Hussein, F.A. Ojo and A. Waziri.
According to the court record, although the appellant filed his notice of appeal on March 30, 2021, and transmitted the record of appeal on July 26, 2021, he failed to take the necessary steps to prosecute the matter thereafter.
Consequently, counsel to the respondents, E.O. Kalu, filed a motion on December 7, 2022, seeking the dismissal of the appeal over the appellant’s failure to file his brief of argument.
Counsel to the appellant, Osita C. Ohabuenyi, had earlier filed a counter-affidavit on December 23, 2022, but subsequently applied to withdraw it and did not oppose the motion seeking dismissal of the appeal. The court granted the application to withdraw the affidavit.

In its ruling, delivered by Justice S.T. Hussein, the court relied on Order 19 Rule 10(1) of the Court of Appeal Rules, which provides a 45-day period for an appellant to file a brief of argument following the transmission of the record of appeal.

The court held that the appellant’s failure to comply with the requirement warranted the dismissal of the appeal.

With the dismissal of both appeals, the decision of the Rivers State High Court in Suit No. OHC/69/2019 remains undisturbed by the first appeal, allowing the underlying suit to proceed, while the second appeal was terminated on procedural grounds.

Certified True Copies of the two decisions were issued by the Court of Appeal