OLABODE RHODES-VIVOUR Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
MARY UKAEGO PETER-ODILI Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
EJEMBI EKO Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
PAUL ADAMU GALINJE Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
SIDI DAUDA BAGE Justice of The Supreme Court of Nigeria
Between
OBA J.A. AWOLOLA, THE EDEDA OF EDA-ONIYO EKITI(Appellant)
AND
THE GOVERNOR OF EKITI STATE & ORS(Respondents)
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PAUL ADAMU GALINJE, JSC: On the 1st of October, 1996, the Federal Military Government of Nigeria, by the State’s Creation Transitional Provisions Decree NO. 36 of 1999 created among others, Ekiti State with Ilejemeje Local Government Area as one of the constituent Local Governments. The headquarter of this Local Government was located at Eda-Oniyo, the town where the Appellant herein is the paramount traditional ruler. Soon after the creation of the Local Government Area, the machinery of the Local Government was established in Eda-Oniyo. The 3rd Respondent herein and the staff of the Local Government moved to Eda-Oniyo and set up all the required administrative machinery.
Three months later, there was a radio announcement in which the Ekiti State Government notified the general public that the Ilejemeje Local Government Headquarter had been relocated from Eda-Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti. Following this announcement, the 3rd Respondent immediately moved the staff and the entire machinery of the Local Government from Eda-Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti and started operating from there. In protest, the Appellant contacted the office of the head of State which informed him that the Federal Military Government had not ordered the relocation of the Local Government headquarter from Eda-Oniyo to Iye-Ekiti. Subsequent action of the Federal Military Government and all official correspondences with Ilejemeje Local Government confirmed Eda-Oniyo as the headquarter of the Local Government. Protests by the Appellant and his people and their call to return the Local Government headquarter to Eda-Oniyo fell on the deaf ears of Ekiti State Government and its functionaries. In order to press home their demand, the Appellant as the paramount traditional ruler of Eda-Oniyo, by a writ of summons filed on the 2nd of August, 1999 and the statement of claim dated 17th August, 1999, claimed against the Respondents at the Ekiti State High Court, the following reliefs: –
