The Calabar High Court presided over by Justice Obgojor Ogar had in a
judgment on January 30, 2012, brought by one of the contestants to the
Obong stool, Etubom Anthony Ani, declared the process that brought the
Obong to the throne as null and void and restrained Otu from
participating in any selection for that purpose.
Justice Ogar restrained the Obong from parading himself as the Obong of
Calabar until proper election has been held and also restrained the
Etubom Traditional Council, from excluding Etubom Anthony Ani and Mbiabo
Ikoneto from any election or selection of an Obong. In an abridged 94 page judgment that lasted for 45 minutes, Justice
Garba said, “for the breach of principles of natural justice and the
first respondent’s (Etubom Anthony Ani) right to fair hearing, the
selection process conducted by the appellants which culminated in the
selection and proclamation of the 6th respondent (Otu) by the Etubom’s
Council represented by the appellants is hereby set aside.
“The selection and proclamation of the 6th respondent as the Obong
elect of Calabar by the Etubom’s conclave of the palace of the Obong on
March 31, 2008 is hereby set aside”.
Accordingly, Justice Garba said, the Etubom Conclave of the Palace of
the Obong of Calabar “is hereby ordered to conduct another process of
selecting a new Obong of Calabar in which all qualified candidates
including the 6th respondent will be given the opportunity to
participate in accordance with the provisions of exhibit 1/20 and in
strict compliance with the rules of natural justice”.
However, the appellate court set aside the High Court decision that
“the appellants had waived the requirement of capping and induction of
an Etubom by the Obong of Calabar into Etubom’s Councils of the Obong’s
palace as a qualifying factor to vote and be voted for as the Obong of
Calabar in favour of the 1st respondent.”
The appellate court also ruled that, “the 1st respondent who admittedly
was not capped/inducted into the Etubom’s Council of the palace of the
Obong at the time of the selection process of the Obong of Calabar was
not traditionally qualified and eligible to vote and be voted for as the
Obong of Calabar under exhibit 1/20.
“That the 6th respondent was traditionally qualified and eligible to
vote and be voted for as the Obong of Calabar under exhibit 1/20 at the
time of the selection process”.
Reacting to the judgment, Ani said, “I was not in court and my lawyer
just briefed me. So far, I see the ruling as 50-50 affair. I will look
at it, see how it affects me and may be appeal the judgment. However,
one thing we are sure of for now is that there is no Obong of Calabar
because the judgment today has nullified the entire processes. For the
Efik people now, there is no Obong”.
Counsel to the Obong, Mr. A. A Archi of Nella, Lawal and Rabana
Chambers, said “the judgment is a vindication that capping is a
fundamental requirement for a candidate to be eligible to be qualified
to contest for selection, election or appointment to the Obong of
Calabar throne. “It
is also a vindication that the 6th respondent, the Obong of Calabar, was
eligible to be selected and appointed as Obong although the court
nullified the processes.
Counsel to Etubom Ani, Mr. Bassey Offiong, who stood in for Mr. Joe Agi
(SAN), commended the court for its judgment but said, “the Court of
Appeal delivered judgment in part. So, many issues were in contention
including first, whether Etubom Anthony Ani was qualified to contest for
the stool; the court ruled that since he was not capped, he was not
qualified to contest for the Obongship stool based on the constitution
of Obong Constitution.
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