The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin has stayed execution of an Edo State High Court judgment that nullified the appointment of Engr. Michael Sado as the Okuokpellagbe of Okpella and directed the reinstatement of Lukeman Akemokue.
The appellate court granted the interim order following an application filed in connection with Sado’s challenge to the lower court decision.
The underlying judgment was delivered in March 2026 by Justice O.A. Otamere of the Edo State High Court in Suit No. HAG/12/2025.
The trial court had concluded that the process by which Akemokue was removed and Sado subsequently emerged as paramount ruler failed to comply with requirements of fair hearing.
At the Court of Appeal, Edo State Attorney-General Prof. Roland Otaru, SAN, informed the panel of an application seeking to suspend enforcement of the judgment pending determination of the appeal.
Counsel for the first respondent later gave an undertaking to the court, after which the interim stay was granted.
The stay does not determine which claimant ultimately has the better legal entitlement to the stool.
Its immediate effect is to prevent execution of the High Court judgment while the substantive appellate challenge remains unresolved.
The dispute is another example of how traditional-institution controversies increasingly require courts to reconcile customary processes, state chieftaincy laws and constitutional principles of fair hearing.
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SOURCE: Blueprint Newspapers
