The Supreme Court has sacked Micheal Onakoya as Orijeru of Igbooye land, Epe, Lagos.
The court dismissed an appeal filed by the monarch who contested the decision of the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal that confirmed his removal as the king and Orijeru of Igbooye land, Epe.
In the case SC//CV//969/2024, Justice Adamu Jauro ruled that Onakoya’s appeal was invalid because it was filed late.
The judgment stated: “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, beyond the time prescribed by Section 27 of the Supreme Court Act. Despite the arguments from Prof. Yusuf Ali (SAN) for the 7th respondent, the court found the appeal incompetent and refused to hear it.”
The Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, had in March 2020 upheld the judgment of a Lagos High Court in Igbosere that dethroned Michael Onakoya as the Orijeru of Igbooye land, Epe.
Dissatisfied with this outcome, Onakoya approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the April 19, 2016 judgment by Justice Iyabo Kasali.
However, the appellate court, comprising Justice Mohammad Lawal, Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu, and Justice Jamilu Tukur, unanimously dismissed his appeal, finding it lacked merit.