Igbo Customary Law: Court Upholds Right Of Female Child To Inherit Father's Property

The Supreme Court has voided the Igbo age-long customary law which forbids a female child from inheriting her late father’s properties.

According to the Vanguard, the Supreme Court voided this tradition and custom on the grounds that it is discriminatory and conflicts with the provision of the constitution. 

The Supreme Court held that the practice conflicted with section 42(1)(a) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution. 

AllNews understands that the judgment is coming following a dispute between Mrs. Lois Chituru Ukeje (wife of the late Lazarus Ogbonna Ukeje) their son, Enyinnaya Lazarus Ukeje and Ms. Gladys Ada Ukeje (the deceased’s daughter).

 “Gladys had sued the deceased’s wife and son before the Lagos High Court, claiming to be one of the deceased’s children and sought to be included among those to administer their deceased father’s estate. The trial court found that she was a daughter to the deceased and that she was qualified to benefit from the estate of their father who died intestate in Lagos in 1981. 

The Court of Appeal, Lagos to which Mrs. Lois Ukeje and Enyinnaya Ukeje appealed, upheld the decision of the trial court, prompting them to appeal to the Supreme Court. In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal, Lagos was right to have voided the Igbo native law and custom that disinherit female children. 

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Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, who read the lead judgment, held that: “No matter the circumstances of the birth of a female child, such a child is entitled to an inheritance from her late father’s estate. 

“Consequently, the Igbo customary law, which disentitles a female child from partaking in the sharing of her deceased father’s estate is a breach of Section 42(1) and (2) of the Constitution, a fundamental rights provision guaranteed to every Nigerian. 

“The said discriminatory customary law is void as it conflicts with Section 42(1) and (2) of the Constitution. In the light of all that I have been saying, the appeal is dismissed. In the spirit of reconciliation, parties are to bear their own costs,” Justice Rhodes-Vivour said.

Justices Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, Kumai Bayang Aka’ahs, and John Inyang Okoro, who were part of the panel that heard the appeal, agreed with the lead judgment. 

However, the judgment evoked mixed reactions from Ndigbo as a prominent monarch in Nsukka and the grand patron of Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council, and the traditional ruler of Aji autonomous community in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Simeon Osisi Itodo, said the Supreme Court ruling cannot abolish the tradition and custom of the Igbos. 

Itodo said that any attempt to implement such law in Igboland would provoke chaos and skirmishes among various communities. He argued that the custom is unique to the people of South-East Nigeria and should not be touched. “There are traditions which had existed before the law. Before the emergence of law courts, Igbos have their tradition and custom which cannot be wiped out because of the Supreme Court ruling. 

“There are so many things we have in common which cannot be stopped because of the court verdict. “We are not against that ruling but we would not abolish our customs and traditions which all of us met. You can imagine a married woman coming back to her father to share his property with the sons. 

“We would not allow it because it would breed chaos and troubles in our communities. If there are customs that allow such inheritance, let the people continue the practice but it won’t work in Igboland. 

“In India, women pay the dowry but the reverse is the case here. We would not abolish our unique customs because of the court ruling,” the monarch said.