Court Adjourns Ologbotsere Suspension Case To March 16

Owing to procedural issues, the Delta State High Court sitting in Warri has adjourned the Ologbotsere suspension case involving Chief Ayiri Emami and Warri Kingdom to March 16.

The case, which has lingered for almost four years, was presided over by Justice Veronica Agboje at High Court 04, Warri, Delta State.

The proceedings slated for a pretrial conference could not hold as scheduled following the inability of the court to proceed with a scheduled pretrial conference.

Justice Agboje adjourned the case to March 16, 2026, for the pretrial conference.

Speaking to journalists after the court session, counsel to the claimant, Chief Ayiri Emami, Chief Emmanuel Uti, explained that the delay was caused by the second defendant’s failure to file court processes on time.

Uti outlined the claimant’s position, insisting that the body that purportedly suspended Chief Ayiri lacked the legal authority to do so.

“Today was fixed for pretrial conference. Unfortunately, the second defendant’s counsel filed out of time and served us the processes only this morning.

Because of that, we have 14 days to examine what has been filed, and this affected the pretrial conference that was supposed to take place today.

“Our claim is that the ruling house that purported to suspend Chief Ayiri as the Ologbotsere of Warri Kingdom had no power to suspend him. Co-chiefs cannot suspend a co-chief.

“There was no code of conduct at the time of the reign of Ogiame Ikenwoli; what existed was only a draft. A committee does not have the power to suspend a co-chief, and the Ginuwa Ruling House also does not have the power to suspend a chief,” he said.

He further disclosed that the claimant intends to rely on statements allegedly made by one of the defendants.

“We have where one of the defendants, Chief Mene Brown, clearly stated that princes have nothing to say in relation to a chief.

“He was quoted, and we have it on video, and we are going to rely on it to show that a prince cannot suspend a chief,” Uti added.

On his part, counsel to the seventh to tenth defendants, Ame Oriakhi, said the defendants were opposing the claimant’s request that the suspension be set aside.

Oriakhi argued that the suspension had already taken effect and that subsequent developments had rendered the claimant’s demand unnecessary.

He also clarified that the suspension did not originate from the current monarch, as the claimant was suspended before the current Olu ascended the throne.

“The claimant is asking the court to set aside his suspension as the chief of Warri Kingdom, and we are saying no. That suspension has happened, and he was given another chieftaincy title, which he rejected. Even if the suspension is lifted today, it will be of no use.

“A substantive Ologbotsere has been appointed by His Majesty, the Olu of Warri, who has the prerogative to appoint his chiefs. That Ologbotsere is functioning in that office and at the palace of the Olu of Warri.

“It was not this king who suspended him. He was suspended before the ascension of the present Olu of Warri. After his ascension, there was an intention to make peace. Following pleas from stakeholders, the king recalled him and gave him another chieftaincy title, but he refused,” Oriakhi said.

Reacting to the adjournment, Chief Ayiri Emami, who was surrounded by his supporters, expressed frustration over what he described as deliberate delays by the defendants.

“This case has been lingering for almost four years. They have been going up and down trying to delay the process. What they did again was to file late as a way of seeking another adjournment. Justice may be delayed, but it will not be denied,” he said.

He insisted that his family was ready to proceed with the matter. “The Ologbotsere family and myself are ready for the case. We have no issue. Come March 16, we will be in court.

“It is a very clear case. No family in Itsekiri land has the right to suspend any chief. It is a straightforward case. They think I will give up, but I will never give up,” Emami said.

Also speaking, the spokesperson of the Ologbotsere descendants worldwide, Comrade Alex Eyengho, criticised the repeated adjournment, describing the matter as legally simple.

Eyengho maintained that no authority in the Warri Kingdom has the power to suspend a chief.

“The court adjourned the matter to March for a pretrial conference. The trial was supposed to start today, and our lawyers came fully prepared, but it is the style of the defendants to delay the process.

“That is what they have been doing for about four years by filing one application after another. By law, it is a very straightforward matter. Nobody in Warri Kingdom has the right or power to suspend even the smallest chief, not to talk of the number one chief of the kingdom, the Ologbotsere.

“The royal family purportedly suspended the Ologbotsere of Warri Kingdom, who is the key driver of the succession process in the kingdom,” he noted.