In affirmation of an earlier ruling in August 2020, the Supreme Court held that the age-long tradition which denied females any inheritance from their fathers was discriminatory and contravenes Section 42(1)(a) and (2) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999.
The matter was commenced by Gladys Ada Ukeje, the daughter of late Lazarus Ogbonna Ukeje in 2004 over her family’s decision to deny her inheritance in her father’s estate based on the Igbo native law and custom.
After she won at the high court, the widow of her father, Mrs Lois Ukeje, and her son, Enyinnaya Ukeje, appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal – wherein the earlier decision was upheld. Thereupon, the family further appealed to the Supreme Court.