The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed
Alhaji Ado Ibrahim as the Ohinoyi of
Ebiraland of Kogi State.
Ibrahim was appointed the paramount
ruler of Ebrialand by the then Military
Administrator of Kogi State, Col. Bzigu
Afakirya, on June 2, 1997, but a suit
challenging his appointment was
instituted before the Kogi State High
Court on March 6, 1998.
Ibrahim appealed to the Supreme
Court after he was ordered to be
deposed by the concurrent judgments
of both the Kogi State High Court
where the matter started and
subsequently the Jos Division of the
Court of Appeal.
But the Justice Ibrahim Muhammad-led
five man panel of the Supreme Court
on Friday struck out the suit on the
grounds that the Kogi State High Court
lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the
suit because it (the suit) was caught
by “statute of limitation.”
Justice John Okoro who delivered the
lead judgment of the apex court held
that the Kogi State High Court lacked
jurisdiction to entertain the suit since
the plaintiffs, some of whom are now
dead, failed to institute it within three
months of Ibrahim’s appointment.
Justice Okoro held, “Having appointed
the appellant (Ibrahim) on June 2,
1997 and the 1st to 4th respondents
becoming aggrieved of the said
appointment, their cause of action
arose with effect from June 2, 1997.
“Section 2(a) of the Public Officers
Protection Act states that such an
action, prosecution or proceeding ‘shall
not lie or be instituted unless it is
commenced within three months after
the act, neglect or default complained
of …’
“The effect of the Public Officers
Protection Act like any other statutes of
limitation is to deprive the court of
jurisdiction to entertain an action filed
outside the time prescribed in the
statute.
“The first to fourth respondents did not
file their suit until March 6, 1998,
clearly about nine months after their
cause of action arose.
“That action, in my estimation, ought
to have been filed not later than 2nd
September, 1997.
“Let me state again for the umpteenth
time that where a law prescribes a
period for instituting an action,
proceedings cannot be instituted after
that period.”
The apex court ruled that the Kogi
State High Court, having been robbed
of the jurisdiction to entertain the suit,
“in the same vein, the lower court
(Court of Appeal) had no jurisdiction to
hear and determine the appeal arising
from a judgment generated from the
High Court which had no jurisdiction to
entertain same.”
Justice Okoro then held, “Accordingly,
both the judgment of the High Court of
Kogi State delivered on April 3, 2006
and that of the court below (Court of
Appeal) delivered on January 12, 2009,
are hereby set aside.”
Respondents in the appeal are, Alhaji
Maigida Lawal, Alhaji Isa Omolori, Mr.
Idris Seriki, Mr. Nwaha Sanni, Military
Administrator of Kogi State and the
Attorney-General Federation.

Good one for him