The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Michael Onakoya challenging the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold his dethronement as the king and Orijeru of Igbooye land, Epe.
In the case marked SC/CV/969/2024, Justice Adamu Jauro delivered the verdict, declaring the appeal incompetent due to being filed out of the prescribed time frame.
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The judgment stated: “The court observed that the Notice of Appeal on page 442 of the record was filed on June 29, 2020, against the decision delivered by the Court of Appeal Lagos Division on March 26, 2020, which was beyond the time limit prescribed by Section 27 of the Supreme Court Act.
“Although learned Prof. Yusuf Ali (SAN) for the 7th respondent urged the court to hear the appeal, we do not deem it proper to hear an incompetent appeal.
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“Consequently, the Notice of Appeal filed on June 29, 2020, in Appeal No. SC/969/2020 is incompetent, having been filed outside the time prescribed by Section 27 of the Supreme Court Act, and it is hereby struck out. Notice of appeal is hereby struck out.”
Previously, in March 2020, the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal had affirmed the judgment of a Lagos High Court in Igbosere, which had dethroned Michael Onakoya as the traditional ruler of Igbooye land, Epe.
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Unhappy with this decision, Onakoya approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the lower court’s judgment delivered on April 19, 2016, by Justice Iyabo Kasali.
However, a three-man panel of the appellate court, comprising Justice Mohammad Lawal, presiding, Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu, and Justice Jamilu Tukur, unanimously dismissed Onakoya’s appeal, ruling that it lacked merit.
The Supreme Court’s decision thus confirms the dethronement, reinforcing the lower courts’ rulings on the matter.
