A Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Capital, has ruled that the current Amayanabo of Kalabari Kingdom, Prof. T. J. T Princewil was not validly enthroned as the Amayanabo of Kalabari.
Legal representatives in the law suit over the kingship tussle, have given different interpretation to the recent judgment of the court on the matter.
Delivering the judgment on the suit instituted by Chief Macdonald Abbey on Monday, Justice E. Titito said the monarch was not validly installed.
Counsel to the claimant, Allen Wokoma said the court ruled that the Monarch was not validly installed “the trial court validated the decision of the court of Appeal to the effect that the present Amayanabo sitting on the stool was not validly enthroned as the Amayanabo of Kalabari. The court granted some of our reliefs and actually dismissed some. But the sum total of the judgment of the high Court of Rivers State is that the Amayanabo, in accordance with the decision of the court of appeal was not validly installed as the Amayanabo of Kalabari and that remains the law until any other higher court says any other thing to the contrary”.
On his part, counsel to the Monarch, O. T. K Amachree said he was surprised at the interpretation given by his colleague and maintained that the Monarch was not dethroned. His words” the judgment appears to be confusing. They now say that they have won. You have won what? Can you win in a case where your own case on the merit was struck out? It is a legal impossibility that in a case that has been struck out , you would go and pride yourself that you have won. I know as a lawyer and I will stand by it that a court that has struck out a case has no business making any further order in that case. His judgment for now is that he adopts what the Court of Appeal has said that everything should go back to status quo. We have said that decision of the Court of Appeal is before the Supreme Court.”
