OBANDE FESTUS OGBUINYA, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): This appeal is an offshoot of the decision of the High Court of Osun State, sitting at Ikire (hereafter referred to as "the Lower Court"), coram judice: A. O. Ayoola, J, in HRE/7/2007, delivered on 22nd June, 2011. Before the Lower Court, the appellant and the respondent were the respective plaintiff and defendant.
The facts of the case, which transformed into the appeal, are amenable to brevity and easy appreciation. The traditional stool of Asehin of Ikire is not a stranger to litigations. This happens to be one of them. The last but one of the occupants of Asehin of Ikire, Gbadamosi Ojo, expired on the throne in 1982. There was contest as to who would replace him. The appellant's family claimed it was their turn while the respondent's family claimed that the Chieftaincy title was the exclusive preserve of it. This led the appellant's family to institute Suit No.HIF/29/83 to challenge the respondents exclusive claim. T…