Ondo Court dismisses Deji of Akure suit against community head

A High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, on Thursday, dismissed the suit instituted by the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade, challenging the appointment of the Iralepo of Isinkan as a recognised Chieftaincy by the Ondo State Government.

The Deji of Akure had in the Suit, AK/ 111M/2021 filed by him claimed that the state government had no powers to recognise the Iralepo of Isinkan as a traditional ruler, stating the judgement of the Court of Appeal that declared that the Iralepo of Isinkan was a quarter Chief under the Prescribed Authority of the Deji of Akure.

But the Counsel to the Iralepo of Isinkan and the traditional ruler of the community, Sola Ebiseni, raised the objection challenging the locus standi of the Deji of Akure to institute the action being not a member of Isinkan or of its Ruling House

Ebiseni noted that the claimants had failed to fulfil the conditions precedent to instituting the action under the Chiefs Law and contended that the suit filed by Oba Ogunlade lacked merit.

According to him, the Instrument of Appointment of the Iralepo of Isinkan made by the Executive Council on the 11th of May 2005 has not been challenged by the Claimant or any other person in any Court and on the basis of which Oba Joseph Olu Ojo was appointed in 1995.

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The Presiding Judge, Justice Olusegun Odusola dismissed the Preliminary Objection holding that the claimant’s originating processes, disclosing that sufficient interest to institute the action which he said disclosed reasonable cause of action.

On the merit of the case, the Court upheld the views of the defendants’ counsel that the appointment of the Iralepo of Isinkan as a recognised Chieftaincy subsists as the Instrument of appointment legally made by the Executive Council had not been challenged or set aside.

The court consequently dismissed the suit of the Deji and the Akure community as the same lacked merit.

Reacting to the judgement, the Iralepo of Isinkan, Oba Olugbenga Ojo, hailed the judiciary for standing for justice, saying “the judgement is a victory for the traditional history and culture of the people both in Isinkan and Akure.”

Extending an olive branch to the Deji of Akure, Oba Adimula opined that the judgement is “a case of no victor no vanquished.”

“The judgement has rekindled our hope in the judicial system in Nigeria. I reiterate my commitment to the development of Isinkan and the entire Akure South Local Government.”