MOHAMMED BABA IDRIS, J.S.C. (Delivering the Lead Judgment): This is an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Jos Division delivered on the 20th day of July, 2017 in Appeal No. CA/J/735/2014 wherein the Court below set aside the judgment of the Sharia Court of Appeal and entered judgment in favour of the 1st - 3rd Respondents.
Death, in the realm of human affairs, is at once an end and a beginning: it closes a life but opens the solemn question of succession. This appeal has its roots in a protracted dispute over the estate of late Ambassador/Alhaji Dalhatu Kolo who died on 21st December, 2000. The said late Ambassador/Alhaji Dalhatu Kolo died intestate.
The administration and distribution of the estate soon assumed a formal character. In 2002, proceedings commenced before the Upper Area Court, Kasuwar Nama, Jos, in Suit No. JUAC1/24CV/2002, touching on the distribution of the estate. The matter was first initiated by the 1st Respondent, the widow of the deceased, jointly w…