Royal showdown in Lagos over Oloja stool

… as ruling house petitions Sanwo-Olu over alleged imposition

A fresh succession crisis has erupted in Lagos over the Oloja of Lagos stool, as the Akinsanya Olojo-Kosoko ruling house alleged unlawful imposition of a candidate in defiance of established tradition and state law.

The ruling house, in a strongly worded petition to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, rejected the announcement of Prince Babajide Kosoko of the Oteniya Ruling House as Oloja of Lagos, describing the move as a breach of the Lagos State Obas and Chiefs Law and the Registered 1983 Declaration governing succession to the stool.

In a statement jointly signed by its head, Prince Surajudeen Abiodun Olojo-Kosoko, and General Secretary, Prince Theophilus Olojo-Kosoko, the family insisted that Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko, from the Akinsanya-Olojo ruling house, remains the duly elected Oloja-Elect.

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According to the family, Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko was elected by the kingmakers of the King Kosoko Royal Family on December 12, 2020, in what it described as a process conducted strictly in line with custom and law. His selection, the statement said, was formally presented to the wider royal family at King Kosoko’s Palace on December 31, 2020, and forwarded to the Lagos State Government for ratification.

The family alleged, however, that the sudden announcement of Prince Babajide Kosoko on January 24, 2026, followed by his presentation at the palace of the Elereko two days later, was driven by “pressure and influence” from a prominent monarch, whom they accused of refusing to act as the statutory consenting authority while openly seeking to impose a preferred candidate.

“This action is full of mischief and a deliberate attempt to subvert both the law and centuries-old tradition,”

The Akinsanya ruling house warned that the development mirrors an earlier succession dispute that produced the late Chief Adebola Idris Disu Ige, a process it said was later overturned by the courts.

‘It said that after that episode, the family, as the next ruling house in line, was formally invited by a letter dated September 19, 2019, to present a candidate — a process that culminated in the emergence of Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko.

Describing the latest move as provocative and destabilising, the family said it was deeply concerned about the absence of consultation and the attempt to “rewrite traditional history” by collapsing established boundaries among the ruling houses.

The ruling house urged Governor Sanwo-Olu to intervene immediately, warning that failure to act could deepen divisions within the royal family and undermine confidence in the state’s traditional institutions.

It called on the governor to review the appointment of Prince Babajide Kosoko, convene all stakeholders to restore a lawful and transparent process, and promptly ratify the December 2020 election of Prince Abiola Olojo-Kosoko.

The family said it would continue to pursue peaceful and lawful means to resist what it described as an illegal imposition, insisting that only strict adherence to law and tradition can guarantee the legitimacy of the next Oloja of Lagos.