THE Ondo State High Court in Ondo town has issued a ruling ordering the removal of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo in the Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo Local Government Area, Oba Babajide Oluwole.
The court found that Oluwole, who was crowned the traditional ruler of the community in 2018, was not a member of the ruling house designated to fill the vacant throne of the town.
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The lawsuit challenging Oluwole’s appointment was brought by two princes from the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House – Rufus Adekanye and Temitope Adeoye – who served as Head and Secretary of the House respectively.
The town’s kingmakers were also named as respondents in the suit.
According to the claimants’ lawyer, Sola Ebiseni, the defendants argued that Oluwole was not a member of the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House, which was designated to present a candidate to the throne, and that the stool was still vacant.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Ademola Enikuemehin, on Friday, April 14, the court held that Oluwole was not qualified to be presented as a candidate for the throne, as he was not a member of the ruling house designated to produce the king.
The judge also ordered that the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo chieftaincy is subject to the Declaration in Part Two of Justice Adeloye Judicial Commission Of Inquiry On Chieftaincy Matters and the Chiefs Law CAP 27 Volume 1 Laws of Ondo State 2006.
The judge stated that the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo Declaration contained in Part Two of Justice Adeloye Judicial Commission Of Inquiry On Chieftaincy Matters restricts eligibility to the throne to descendants of five male lineages, who are constituted as the five ruling houses of the chieftaincy.
According to him, only members of the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House of the male linage are qualified to be proposed as a candidate(s) and be made an Oba at the turn of the ruling house.
The judge further held that the fifth defendant (Oba Oluwole) was not a descendant of the Aare Kugbaigbe Ruling House and was, therefore, not qualified under the declaration to be proposed as a candidate for the vacant stool of, or be made the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo.
He, therefore, ordered an injunction restraining Oluwole from parading himself or allowing himself to be paraded as, or accorded the rights and privileges pertaining to the person, title and office of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo.
The court also restrained the defendants “jointly and severally” from parading as, or according to the fifth defendant, the recognition, rights, and privileges of the Olu-Oke of Oke-Igbo.
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