Obong Of Calabar Tussle
OpenLife Nigeria reports that early January, 2023, the unending tussle for the stool of the Obong of Calabar reverberated in Abuja as a five-man panel of the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by former Minister of Finance, Etubom Anthony Ani, against Etubom Ekpo Okon on the traditional stool of the Obong of Calabar and the traditional ruler of the Efik kingdom.
The judgement delivered by Justice Amina Augie was dismissed on the grounds that the appeal lacked merit.
Ani had approached a lower court challenging Etubom Okon Abasi and others in their capacity as members of Etubom’s Traditional council for allegedly distorting the screening process of the western Calabar when Abasi Otu was the chairman of the council.
Justice Obojor Ogah of the High Court of Cross River State removed Abasi Otu who was the chairman of the committee for selection of candidates for the stool of Obong of Calabar, as candidate elect, on the grounds that it is contrary to natural justice, equity and good conscience, thereby upholding Etubom Anthony’s emergence as Obong of Calabar elect.
Not satisfied with the decision, Abasi Otu appealed the decision of the lower court at the Calabar division of the Court of Appeal.
While delivering judgement in the appeal in June 2013, the then Justice Garba Lawal, now a justice of the Supreme Court, set aside the selection process that produced Ani on the grounds that he was not traditionally eligible to vote and be voted for at the time.
The judge held that Etubom Abasi Otu was traditionally qualified at the time of the selection process, but also set aside his proclamation as Obong.
The judge therefore ordered that the Etuboms conclave of the palace of the Obong of Calabar conduct another selection process in a strict compliance with the rules of natural justice.
Etubom Anthony Ani approached the Supreme Court, challenging the decision of the Calabar division of the Court of Appeal.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court upheld the decision of the lower court and dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.
But on Tuesday, August 1, Etubom Anthony Ani, and contestant to the Obong of Calabar throne, restated his claim to the Obong of Calabar stool by declaring that he is the Obong of Calabar and nobody can stop it.
Etubom Ani, who spoke when the Ikot Offiong Royal House paid him a solidarity visit, noted that he was selected by the remaining seven Etuboms alive, who carried out the process for selection of Obong to succeed Nta Elijah Henshaw, who died in 2008 and in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court, which ordered that the feuding parties laying claim to the stool should return to the drawing board to select another Obong.
“After the Supreme Court asked us to return to the drawing board, the Etubom Traditional Rulers Council headed by Etubom Efiok sent a message to Edidem Ekpo Otu to present himself for another selection process but he did not show up and the Etuboms went ahead to select me as the Obong-elect and nobody can stop my being crowned Obong of Calabar.”
Also speaking, Ntufam Asuquo Eyoma, former Nigerian Ambassador to Uganda, said the solidarity visit to the Obong-elect was to show support and after that the Obong-elect in turn would pay royal visits to all the royal houses leading to his crowning.
“Etubom Ani is a true son of Efik and qualified to sit on that stool because both his parents are Efik unlike the other person, whose mother is Efik while his father is not and by that status can never sit on Efik stool as Obong.”
He said Etubom Ani would on Friday meet with the traditional rulers council in Cross River State in readiness for his crowning.
Historically, the Obong of Calabar is the traditional ruler and custodian of the culture of the Efik people in Cross River State, Nigeria in Western Africa.
The Obong is referred to as a natural ruler. This is because the kingdom predates the Nigerian state and the King signed sovereign treaties with other world powers.
So powerful is the kingdom held that Obong of Calabar, at a time, was bestowed with the additional title of defender of the Christian faith by a British monarch owing to the Obong’s documented efforts in helping the spread of Christianity in his domain.
The current but disputed Obong of Calabar , Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, is the 78th monarch of the Efik people and has held the title since 2008.
List of Obongs
• Eyamba V (1834-1847)
• Archibong I (1849-1852)
• Edem-Odo Edem Ekpo (1854-1858)
• Orok Edem-Odo (1880-1896)
• Bassey Eyo Ephraim Adam III (1882-1886)
• Adam Ephraim Adam I (1901-1906)
• Boco Ene Nkpang Cobham (1989-2001)
• Nta Elijah Henshaw (2001-2008)
• Ekpo Okon Abasi-Otu V (2008-till date)
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