One of the contenders for the Alaafin of Oyo stool, Prince Lukman Gbadegesin, has filed a lawsuit at the Oyo State High Court challenging the appointment of Prince Akeem Owoade as the new Alaafin.
The suit, filed on 12 February, demands the reversal of Owoade’s appointment, arguing that it violates the Chiefs Law of Oyo State, 2000, and the Registered Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961.
Gbadegesin is also seeking an injunction to prevent Owoade from assuming the throne or performing any royal duties.
Gbadegesin’s suit lists Governor Seyi Makinde, the Attorney General of Oyo State, and 11 others as defendants, asking the court to compel them to appear within 30 days.
In the suit, filed through his lawyer, Kunle Sobaloju (SAN), the aggrieved prince contended that: “The governor’s approval of Owoade’s appointment within five days of its presentation was unlawful, unconstitutional, invalid, null, and void.”
Gbadegesin argued that the Oyomesi (kingmakers) had already selected him as the rightful candidate and is demanding a court declaration affirming his nomination as valid.
He alleged that Governor Makinde’s decision violated due process in several key areas.
“The selection of the fourth defendant as the Alaafin of Oyo was carried out to the exclusion of rightful kingmakers who were neither suspended nor removed,” he argued.
He is, therefore, seeking “a declaration that the claimant, having been validly nominated by the Agunloye Ruling House and/or selected, appointed, and proclaimed by the kingmakers of the Alaafin of Oyo (known as Oyomesi) as the candidate to fill the vacant stool of the Alaafin of Oyo in accordance with the Chiefs Law of Oyo State, 2000, and the Registered Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961, his appointment is valid, lawful, and proper.”
Gbadegesin is also seeking an order directing the Governor of Oyo State to “immediately and forthwith approve the appointment of the claimant as validly nominated by the Agunloye Ruling House and/or selected, appointed, and proclaimed by the kingmakers of the Alaafin of Oyo as the candidate to fill the vacant stool of the Alaafin of Oyo.”
Furthermore, the claimant asks for “an order of injunction restraining the first, third, fifth, sixth, and ninth to thirteenth defendants, their agents, servants, and/or privies from recognising or further recognising the fourth defendant as Alaafin of Oyo and/or paying him the stipends, allowances, salaries, and all the prerequisites of office attached to the position of Alaafin of Oyo.”
Gbadegesin, in the suit, demands an order setting aside the nomination, selection, appointment, approval, or presentation of the staff of office to Owoade as Alaafin of Oyo, insisting that it was done in violation of the provisions of the Chiefs Law of Oyo State, 2000, and the Registered Alaafin Chieftaincy Declaration of 1961, and is therefore unlawful, unconstitutional, invalid, null, and void.
The suit comes after a pre-action notice filed by Sobaloju, addressed to the Governor of Oyo State, insisting that the governor’s actions contravene the Oyo State Chiefs Law, 2000.
Gbadegesin, recommended by a faction of the Oyomesi, is appealing that the court set aside the appointment, approval of appointment, and presentation of the staff of office to a new Alaafin carried out by the governor.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Government has set things in motion for the coronation of Owoade as the new Alaafin.
The state government and Owoade have constituted a coronation committee, which held its inaugural meeting last week.
