OGUNDARE, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): This appeal raises once again the vexed question of locus standi which, in spite of a plethora of decided cases on it, still remains a Gordian knot. A number of judicial pronouncements have been made and academic papers written. Rather than the problem being solved, it has become more intractable as the case now on hand demonstrates.
The dispute between the parties arose as a result of the demise on 10th September, 1985 of the Reverend Pastor Samuel Bilehou Joseph Oshoffa, prophet and founder of the Celestial Church of Christ, a religious organisation duly registered in 1958 as a corporate body under the Lands (Perpetual Succession) Act, cap. 98 laws of Nigeria) 1958. The Church, founded in 1942, has chapters (otherwise called dioceses) in various countries of the world; including Nigeria. The Nigeria diocese has a constitution which was adopted in 1980. Section 146 of the said constitution established a body known as the Registered…