LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CHIEFTAINCY LAW — Traditional Council — Membership — Appointment — Reading of Documents Together
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
To determine who the Governor appointed to a Traditional Council, the proper approach is to read the recommendation letter and the approval letter together, not separately.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ogundare, JSC, in Ajayi & Ors v. Yemi (2001) NLC-51997(SC) at p. 12; Paras B–D.
"In order to determine who the Military Governor appointed to the Council from Oko/Olla District the proper approach is to read Exhibits 1 and 10 together and not separately. Reading them together, the appointment made in Exhibit 1 from that District will become clear — it is the plaintiff rather than the 1st defendant that was appointed. Nor did exhibit 10 empower the Council to choose who the representative for that District was to be."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
When a Governor approves a recommendation for appointment, the recommendation letter and the approval letter must be read together as a single composite document. The approval adopts the specifics of the recommendation unless clearly modified. The approval letter does not empower the Council to substitute a different person. The principle ensures that the Governor’s intention is ascertained from the entire transaction, not isolated parts. Reading documents together is a canon of construction that applies to administrative acts. The court will not allow a Council to ignore the Governor’s clear approval by appointing a different person. The appointee is determined by the recommendation as approved.