The Olanwa Ruling House of Isheri-Olofin has prayed the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to set aside the purported installation of Ibrahim Olasunkanmi Bello as the oba-elect of the community.
Head of the Olanwa Family, Alhaji Adebiyi Lamidi; Prince Moruf Adebiyi and Prince Lukeman Adebiyi, who sued for themselves and on behalf of the Olanwa Ruling House, stated that Bello was installed despite a subsisting court order.
Through their lawyer Mr George Oguntade (SAN), the plaintiffs had filed a motion asking the court to restrain the first defendant as the Oba Elect of Isheri Olofin.
The motion was argued on November 22 and a ruling was to be delivered on December 11
According to the claimants, Bello was installed as the oba on the same day the court ruled to uphold the plaintiffs’ motion and restrained him from parading himself as Oba Elect.
The plaintiffs have filed a motion to set aside the purported installation and are in the process of commencing contempt proceedings against the first defendant.
Other defendants in the suit are the Balogun of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Fasasi Balogun; the Eletu of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Saheed Adebiyi; the Otun of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Kolawole Ogundeyi; the Osi of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Idowu Erinfolami; the Ajiroba of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Lateet Ilyas Abogunloko; and the Iyaolode of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Ekundayo Abogunloko.
The rest are the Ajigbeda of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Simbiat Abogunloko; the Aro of Isheri-Olofin, Chief Wasiu Ogundeyi; Chairman Egbe Idimu Local Council Development Area, Alimosho; the Chieftaincy Committee of Alimosho Local Government; the Lagos State Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs and the Governor of Lagos State.
The plaintiffs are praying for “a restorative order setting aside the purported installation of the first defendant as the new Oba of Isheri-Olofin at a ceremony which took place at the Alimosho Local Government Secretariat on the 11th day of December 2024”.
They seek an order restraining the 12th and 13th defendants (chieftaincy ministry and the governor) “from affording any credence or recognition whatsoever to the purported installation of the first defendant as the new Oba of Isheri-Olofin pending the hearing and determination of this suit”.
They asked for “an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the first defendant from performing the duties and responsibilities of Oba of Isheri-Olofin pending the hearing and determination of this suit”.
They also pray the court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the state government from presenting the Staff of Office of Oba of Isheri-Olofin to the first defendant and restraining him from receiving the same pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
The motion is supported by an affidavit deposed to by Chief Lamidi, Head of the Claimant’s Royal Family which is one of the four Ruling Houses of Isheri-Olofin, whose turn it is to fill the vacant Obaship Stool of Isheri-Olofin under the extant Isheri-Olofin Chieftaincy Declaration dated June 1, 1983.
According to him, the last Oba of Isheri-Olofin was Oba Wahab Ayinde Balogun [Olofin V] who hailed from the Olaigbo Ruling House and ruled for over 35 years until he joined his ancestors on February 8, 2022, aged 95.
Following his demise, the families of Isheri-Olofin wrote to the Commissioner for Local Government on June 6, 2022, to introduce Prince Bilaminu Kola Balogun as the Regent of Isheri Olofin.
In response, the ministry, through the Chairman of the Egbe-Idimu LCDA, wrote to unanimously approve the appointment of Prince Ola Balogun as Regent of Isheri-Olofin vide a September 27, 2022 letter.
Following rival claims to the vacant Obaship Stool of Isheri-Olofin, the claimants submitted the dispute to court on July 25, 2024, and served the processes on all the defendants.
The claimants also filed a Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction seeking a number of injunctive reliefs, including restraining the first defendant from parading himself as the Oba Elect of Isheri-Olofin.
The motion was argued on November 22, 2024, with most of the defendants represented, and a ruling was delivered on December 11, 2024, restraining the first defendant.
According to the claimants, while the order for injunction was pending, the first to 12th defendants “contemptuously proceeded to plan and organise an Installation ceremony”, which took place on December 11, the same day the court restrained the first defendant from parading himself as the Oba of Isheri-Olofin.
The claimants stated that by proceeding to hold the installation ceremony despite the pendency of the suit and the ruling, the defendants “clearly attempted to steal a match on the claimants and thereby foist a fait accompli on the court”.
The deponent stated that the ministry was yet to approve the first defendant’s appointment as the Oba of Isheri-Olofin and has not presented the staff of office to him in recognition of that appointment.
The plaintiffs urged the court to invoke its disciplinary jurisdiction aimed at preserving its dignity and majesty by reversing the action taken by the first to 12th defendants to preserve the res and restore the status quo ante bellum irrespective of the merits of the case, the first to 12th defendants having acted contemptuously.
They noted that the need to preserve the res – the Isheri-Olofin Obashi Stool – necessitates the grant to prayers to set aside the purported installation, among others.
