A High Court sitting in Osogbo has resolved the issues surrounding the authenticity of the 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration on Alawo of Awo by ruling against the application of the Awojobi ruling house, describing the application as “unreasonable and unnecessary”.

Prince (Mogaji) Ganiyu Ademola Adediji, the acclaimed head of Awojobi ruling house in Awo, had approached the State High Court to challenge the 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration on Alawo of Awo by praying the Court to decide otherwise against the order of rotation as contained in the gazette on the Chieftaincy Declaration.

Defendants in the suit brought by Awojobi were the Osun State Governor, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Abdulkareem Adegboye of Abioye Ruling House, Prince Waheed Jimoh of Okunji Ruling House, and Prince Lawal Oyekunle.

Barr Olusola Ajala is the counsel of the Plaintiff/Applicant, while Barr Kehinde Adesiyan represents 1st, 2nd and 4th defendants, Barr Olamiposi Egbedinni represents 3rd defendant (Abioye Ruling House) and Barr Ambali Adisa represents 5th, 6th and 7th defendants.

The plaintiff/applicant argued on extant custom that the king used to be picked from male and female descendants and that the concocted story of the defendants was not in any form relating to the historical affinity of Alawo stool by bringing the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration to support their argument, which the Abioye ruling house had countered with the existing 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration through the preliminary objection.

They further argued that they were from the female lineage of the Awojobi ruling house and they should be allowed to produce the next Alawo of Awo after the death of Oba Musa Olatunbosun Adebayo from Akinsilo ruling house, urging the Court to give an order of injunction against the respondents/defendants, restraining them from taking any step towards choosing a new Alawo.

But the 3rd defendant (the Abioye ruling house) which the 5th, 6th & 7th defendants aligned with, brought a preliminary objection by filing a written address, while other parties filed counter affidavits while the 1st, 2nd & 4th defendants counsel replied orally.

The preliminary objection bothers on the 1978 Chieftaincy declaration on Alawo of Awo which is a subsidiary legislation with order of rotation as Awojobi, Akinsilo, Abioye and Okunji ruling houses.

Delivering his ruling, the vacation judge, Justice Mathias Agboola, declared that the Court does not have the power to make any declaration against the existing 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration on Alawo because the application brought before it by the applicant was “unreasonable and unnecessary”, awarding the cost of N100,000 against the applicant (the Awojobi ruling house) after their Counsel appealed to the Court for reduction from the earlier cost of N200,000.

The Court affirmed that Abioye Ruling House was the next ruling house to produce the monarch after the demise of Oba Adebayo from Akinsilo ruling house, saying that the litigant did claim that he belongs to the Awojobi ruling house that produced Oba Samuel Ajani Adediji beforeOba Musa Olatunbosun Adebayo.

It emphasized that if it granted the request of the applicant, it was not their turn to produce the next monarch but the turn of Abioye ruling house, adding that the Alawo Chieftaincy Declaration of 1978 was not done without the knowledge of the applicant and the declaration was bidding on all of them.

Sequel the request by the plaintiff to rule on the 2017 report of Memorandum of Justice A. B. Abdulkareem on Alawo’s stool, Justice Agboola disclosed that the panel also affirmed the four ruling houses in order of rotation in line with 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration on Alawo of Awo.

Reacting to the judgment, a Crown Prince from Abioye Ruling House, Prince Abubakar Adeniyi, hailed the judiciary for this landmark judgment on Alawo stool in respect of existing 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration, saluting the courage of Justice Agboola for painstaking to separate the truth from falsehood of Adesina female lineage of Awojobi ruling house, describing the judgment as victory for truth against falsehood.

Prince Adeniyi also commended Olapade male extraction of the Awojobi ruling house for standing with the truth as contained therein in the 1978 Chieftaincy Declaration on Alawo.

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