Oba Babajide Oluwole, the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo in the state’s Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo Local Government, has been asked to appear before the Ondo State High Court, which is located in Ondo Town, Entrepreneurng report.
After admitting that Oba Oluwole, who was anointed as the community’s monarch in 2018, was not a member of the royal house, which in turn was intended to fill the town’s then-vacant stool, the court revoked the appointment of the traditional ruler.
The enthronement of Oba Oluwole by the state government was being contested by two princes from the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House, Rufus Adekanye and Temitope Adeoye, Head and Secretary of the House, respectively. They went before the court. The action included the kingmakers as well.
The claimants stated that the defendant was not a member of the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House, whose turn it was to offer a candidate to the throne, saying the stool is still vacant, in the lawsuit filed by their attorney, Mr. Sola Ebiseni.
The court acknowledged that Oluwole was not a member of the royal house, which in turn produced the monarch, and was also not competent to be presented as a contender for the kingdom in a verdict by Justice Ademola Enikuemehin.
“The Olu-Oke Oke-Igbo Chieftaincy the Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo Local Government Area Ondo State subject to the Declaration Part two Justice Adeloye Judicial Commission Of Inquiry On Chieftaincy Matters and the Chiefs Law CAP 27 Volume 1 Law of Ondo State 2006,” the judge ruled in the ruling.”
The judge said, “Under the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo Declaration contained in Part Two of Justice Adeloye Judicial Commission Of Inquiry On Chieftaincy Matters, eligibility to the throne is restricted to the descendants of:
(1) Odo Eleyowo
(2) Aare Kugbaigbe
(3) Kuole Oloje
(4) Aderin Ologbenla
(5) Ajibike Adedimeji of the male lineage who ihus constituted the five Ruling Houses of the Chieftaincy.
Only male members of the said Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House are eligible to be proposed as the candidate(s) and be made an Oba at the turn of the Ruling House, according to and by the Oke-Igbo Declaration contained in Part Two of Justice Adeloye Judicial Commission Of Inquiry On Chieftaincy Matters.
“By the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo Declaration found in Part Two of Justice Adeloye Judicial Commission Of Inquiry On Chieftaincy Matters, it is now the Are Kugbaigbe Ruling House’s turn to present candidate(s) to occupy the currently vacant seat of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo Chieftaincy.”
“The fifth defendant (Oba Oluwole) is not a member of the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House and, as such, is not qualified under the declaration to be proposed as a candidate for the vacant stool of or to be appointed the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo,” according to the declaration.
The fifth defendant was prohibited from “further parading himself or permitting himself to be paraded as or accorded the rights and privileges about the person, title, and office of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo,” according to the court’s injunction.
In conclusion, the defendants were forbidden from “jointly and severally parading as or further according to the fifth defendant the recognition, rights, and privileges, of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo.
Source: Punch
