The Delta State High Court sitting in Asaba has struck out a suit challenging the selection and installation of Professor Epiphany Azinge, SAN, as the 14th Asagba of Asaba, holding that the claimants failed to comply with the mandatory legal requirements for instituting proceedings under the state’s chieftaincy laws.
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Justice P. N. Obanor delivered the ruling on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, after upholding a preliminary objection filed by Azinge, who was named as the third defendant in the action.
The court held that the suit was incompetent because the claimants had failed to satisfy the mandatory condition precedent required before approaching the court to challenge the selection and installation of a traditional ruler in Delta State.
The action, marked DTHC/ASB/CV/213/2024, was instituted by Obi Ikechukwu Nwajei, Ogbueshi Iweanya Nwajei and Ogbueshi Amechi Akpoku, who challenged the process that led to Azinge’s emergence and installation as the 14th Asagba of Asaba in 2024.
The ruling was disclosed in a statement published through the verified official Facebook account of the Palace of the Asagba of Asaba.
According to the palace, the court upheld the preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit, the claimants’ legal standing and the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the action.
The objection was argued on behalf of Azinge by his lead counsel, Chike George Onyemenam, SAN.
The claimants, however, opposed the objection through their lead counsel, Chief Emeka Ofodile, SAN, who presented arguments urging the court to entertain the substantive challenge to the traditional ruler’s selection and installation.
After considering the submissions of both parties, Justice Obanor upheld the preliminary objection.
The court determined that the claimants had failed to fulfil the mandatory procedural requirements prescribed by the applicable chieftaincy laws before instituting proceedings challenging the installation of a traditional ruler.
Consequently, the court held that the action was incompetent and that it lacked jurisdiction to proceed with the substantive claims.
According to the palace’s statement, the court upheld the objection filed by the third defendant, challenging the suit as incompetent and questioning the claimants’ locus standi and the court’s jurisdiction.
Locus standi refers to the legal standing or sufficient interest required for a person to institute proceedings before a court.
Jurisdiction, on the other hand, concerns the legal authority of a court to hear and determine a particular dispute.
In cases where legislation prescribes mandatory preliminary steps before litigation can be commenced, failure to comply with those requirements may prevent a court from exercising jurisdiction over the action.
The court’s ruling in the present matter was based on the claimants’ failure to satisfy the mandatory condition precedent applicable to challenges involving the selection and installation of traditional rulers under Delta State law.
The palace explained that Justice Obanor reached the decision after examining the arguments presented by Onyemenam and Ofodile concerning the competence of the proceedings.
The court consequently terminated the action without proceeding to determine the substantive dispute over Azinge’s selection and installation.
In a related development, the court also struck out a separate suit instituted by the same claimants against Engineer Louis Edozien, who served as the Ochendo during the reign of the 13th Asagba of Asaba.
Edozien was involved in the process leading to the selection of the 14th Asagba, having presided over the selection exercise.
The claimants had also challenged aspects of his role in the process.
In that proceeding, Chief Emeka Ofodile, SAN, represented the claimants, while Chief Arthur Obi Okafor, SAN, appeared for Edozien.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court held that the claimants had similarly failed to comply with the mandatory condition precedent required before commencing the action.
The court therefore struck out the separate suit on the ground of non-compliance with the applicable legal requirements.
The two rulings effectively brought the proceedings challenging Azinge’s installation and Edozien’s involvement in the selection process to an end before the High Court.
However, the decisions were based on procedural competence and jurisdiction rather than a substantive judicial determination of every allegation concerning the selection process.
The distinction is important because a court that strikes out a suit for failure to satisfy a mandatory condition precedent does not necessarily determine the underlying claims on their merits.
The palace welcomed the rulings, presenting them as a judicial resolution of the legal challenges instituted against Azinge’s emergence as the 14th Asagba of Asaba.
Azinge, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, was installed as the 14th Asagba of Asaba in 2024.
His emergence as the traditional ruler had been challenged by the three claimants, who approached the Delta State High Court seeking judicial intervention concerning the selection and installation process.
However, the court’s decision to uphold the preliminary objection meant that the substantive challenge could not proceed in its existing form.
The palace maintained that the ruling had brought the litigation to a conclusion.
The available account did not indicate whether the claimants intended to challenge the decisions before the Court of Appeal.
For now, the Delta State High Court’s rulings have terminated the two proceedings, leaving Azinge’s position as the 14th Asagba of Asaba unaffected by those suits.
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