The Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja, the state capital, has removed the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammed Tijani Anaje, from the traditional stool.
Anaje is the first-class traditional ruler of the hometown of the popular Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District in the 10th Assembly.
How Natasha became Nigerian senator
Legit.ng recalled that Natasha, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, was sworn in as a senator from Kogi State after a long legal battle with her opponent in the All Progressives Congress (APC). She was popular for surviving a harsh political rivalry with the immediate past governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello.
Leadership reported that Yahaya Bello appointed the embattled Ohinoyi of Ebira Land towards the end of his tenure as the governor of Kogi State in January 2024.
But Hon. Justice Salisu Umar of the State High Court 6 in Lokoja, the state capital, in his judgment on Monday, February 3, ordered that the defendant, the embattled monarch, stop parading himself as the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland.
The full details of the court judgment were yet to be compiled as of the time of writing this report, but it was learnt that the case was filed in suit number HCO/05C/2024, by Dr. Barnabas Adeku Ojiah and two others against the Governor of Kogi State.
Why court removed the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland
Vanguard reported that Ojiah and others are challenging the legal standing of Anaje’s appointment by the former governor. They alleged that there were irregularities in the emergence of the new Ohinoyi of Ebiraland.
The court judgment has therefore nullified the appointment of Alhaji Ahmed Muhammed Tijani Anaje as the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland and mandated that compliance with the traditional and legal procedures in the selection of new Ohinoyi of Ebiraland must be fully respected.
All attempts to speak with the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammed Tajani Anaje, were not successful as his phone numbers were not going through.
Moment Senator Natasha weeps during plenary
Legit.ng earlier reported that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has been seen crying while mourning and making a case for the late Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Abdul Rahman Ado Ibrahim.
Natasha, a PDP senator who was recently sworn in after a long battle with her opponent in the APC, asked the government to honour the late first-class monarch.
