Omosohwofa Eboh & Anor V. Willie Oki & Ors (1974)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

FATAYI-WILLIAMS, J.S.C. 

In Warri High Court Suit No. W/28/71, the plaintiffs claimed against the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants jointly and severally as follows:

A(1) A declaration that the relationship orally created between the plaintiffs’ family of OLODI of the first part, 1st and 2nd defendants’ family of OKI of Okere of the second part and 3rd and 4th defendants’ family of IGHOGBADU of OKERE of the third part sometime in 1950 at Okere, within the Warri Judicial Division, whereby farmlands hitherto cultivated by members of the respective families were merged and/or pooled together for the common purpose of development for alienation for profit in the joint names and on behalf of “OLODI OKI and IGHOGBADU” is a partnership.

2(a) A declaration that the said partnership or the partnership orally made in Warri within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court sometime in 1950 between plaintiffs’ family of Olodi on the first part, 1st and 2nd defendants’ family of Oki of the second part and 3rd and 4th defendants’ family of Ighogbadu of the 3rd part has been dissolved as from 22nd January, 1971 by plaintiffs’ notice of dissolution.

OR (b) Dissolution of the said partnership or the partnership orally made in Warri between the three families aforesaid at Okere within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court sometime in 1950.

(3) As against the 5th defendant, an account of all receipts and payments, dealings, transactions, leases or grants in respect of the OLODI, OKI & IGHOGBADU LAYOUT in respect of which he has acted as agent or Secretary for the three families constituting the partnership.

(4) Other suitable reliefs.

(b) ALTERNATIVELY, PARTITION of all the lands, rights and interests that are jointly or commonly owned and/or developed jointly or in common for alienation by the OLODI, OKI and IGHOGBADU families in Okere within the jurisdiction of this court.

After service of the writ, but before pleadings were ordered, the 2nd and 3rd defendants brought an application seeking the following orders from court:

(1) That the names of the 1st and 4th defendants WILLIE OKI and IWERE ODOBRIKEN be struck out of the writ of summons and any subsequent proceedings and JAMES OKI and OLE ONORIOBE of OKI family and IGHOGBADU family respectively be substituted as 1st and 4th defendants respectively herein for the above-named WILLIE OKI and IWERE ODOBRIKEN.

(2) That OTOMI EBOH, DAVID EBOH, HENRY U. OKUMAGBA and ANTHONY OKUMAGBA all members of OLODI family be added as co-defendants in this action.

(3) That the action be defended by the 2nd and 3rd defendants, the substituted and added defendants named in (1) and (2) above for themselves and on behalf of the Olodi, Oki and Ighogbadu families of Okere, Warri SAVE and EXCEPT the representative plaintiffs Omosohwofa Eboh and Samuel Okumagba and their “constituency” or those members of Olodi family represented by the said plaintiffs.

(4) That the writ of summons and all subsequent proceedings herein be amended accordingly.

The application was argued at length and the learned trial judge delivered a reserved ruling on 24th June, 1971, the relevant portion of which reads as follows: