ABRAHAM OLA YINKA OKUPE

The appellate court, per Kingdon, C.J., considered an appeal by private relator Abraham Olayinka Okupe after Bartley, Assistant Judge of the High Court of the Protectorate in the Ibadan Division, dismissed Okupe’s application for an information in the nature of quo warranto against Soyebo, the Alaperu of Iperu. Drawing on the principle set out in Halsbury, the court emphasized that quo warranto lies only where the office is under or created by the Crown. The court found that the Alaperu’s position is an elective minor chieftaincy rooted in native custom, chosen by local chiefs and elders, not a statutory native authority under the Native Authority Ordinance, 1933, and not a Crown-created office. Relying also on the Full Court’s decision in Adanji v. Hunvoo, where it was common ground that quo warranto did not lie in analogous circumstances, the court affirmed the lower court’s decision and dismissed the appeal. Butler Lloyd, J. and Carey, J. concurred.