“Although Sec. 165 of the Constitution of the Federation defines “chieftaincy question”, the word “chief” is nowhere defined in this Constitution. In Sec. 5(3) of the Constitution of Eastern Nigeria, however, “chief” is defined as follows:-“(3) In this section- ‘Chief’ means any person who is for the time being recognised as a Chief under any law in force in the Region.” This, in our view, is not a satisfactory definition; and as stated, it is narrow in the sense that it is limited to the context of the section of the Constitution to which it refers. A wider definition, however, is to be found in Sec. 3 of the Interpretation Ordinance, Cap. 89 of the 1958 Laws of the Federation, etc. which relates to Definitions. It is defined thus-“‘Chief’ or ‘native chief’ means any native whose authority and control is recognised by a native community.”We are not aware of any other definition of a “chief”, nor have we been referred to any. We are of the view, however, that the aforesaid definition given in the Interpretation Ordinance, Cap. 89, is the proper definition of a chief to apply to the Constitution of the Federation since the said definition is contained in a Law which is in force on the 1st October, 1963, when the Constitution takes effect. Sec. 156(1) of the Constitution of the Federation, 1963, in our view, covers this.”
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