A High Court sitting in Lokoja has affirmed the appointment and installation of Alhaji Mathew Opaluwa as Attah Igala, dismissing in its entirety a suit challenging his ascension to the revered throne of the Igala Kingdom.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Etsu Muhammad Umar ruled that the appointment of Dr. Opaluwa by the Kogi State Government was consistent with the customs, traditions and established succession processes of the Igala people.
The suit was instituted by Abdullahi Adejo Aliyu Obaje, who sought to invalidate Opaluwa’s emergence on the grounds that only direct biological sons of previous Attahs are qualified under Igala native law and custom to occupy the throne.
However, Justice Umar held that the claimant failed to establish the existence of any binding customary law restricting succession exclusively to direct sons of former Attahs.
According to the court, the entire case collapsed because the claimant could not provide cogent, credible and compelling evidence to support his assertion.
The judge stressed that customary law, particularly in chieftaincy disputes, cannot be founded on assumptions, sentiments or personal interpretations but must be proved by credible evidence capable of withstanding judicial scrutiny.
A major plank of the claimant’s argument was Gazette No. 2 of 2015, which he relied upon to challenge the selection process and assert his eligibility for the throne.
But the court found that the same Gazette undermined his position by expressly recognizing grandchildren of previous Attahs as qualified candidates for the stool, thereby contradicting his claim that only direct sons were eligible.
Justice Umar further held that evidence before the court clearly showed that Opaluwa emerged from the Aju Ame-Acho ruling house, the designated ruling house entitled to produce the Attah Igala under the prevailing traditional arrangement.
The court noted that the nomination, screening, consultations and recommendations that produced Opaluwa substantially complied with the established customs of the kingdom as well as administrative procedures recognized by law.
On the issue of due process, the court ruled that the appointment enjoyed the legal presumption of regularity, having passed through all statutory and traditional stages, including consideration by kingmakers, endorsement by the Igala Area Traditional Council, review by relevant government authorities and eventual approval by the Kogi State Government before coronation.
Justice Umar held that the claimant failed to rebut that presumption or establish any substantial illegality capable of invalidating the process.
The court maintained that mere dissatisfaction with the outcome of a selection process could not serve as sufficient legal basis to nullify the emergence of a traditional ruler.
In what appeared to be one of the most significant pronouncements in the judgment, the judge rejected the claimant’s request for the court to declare him qualified and order his installation as Attah Igala.
“The judiciary is not a kingmaker,” Justice Umar ruled, emphasizing that courts neither nominate nor install traditional rulers, as such responsibilities belong to the appropriate customary institutions and executive authorities empowered by law.
Consequently, the court dismissed the suit for lacking merit and affirmed the lawful nomination, approval and installation of Opaluwa as Attah Igala.
The judgment is expected to strengthen the legitimacy of the revered monarch’s reign and may bring legal closure, at least for now, to the prolonged battle over one of the most prestigious traditional stools in the Igala Kingdom.