Justice

An Igboye Community High Chief in Eredo Local Council Development Area, Epe, Lagos State, High Chief Joseph Oluwaranti Adebanjo, has debunked the rumours been peddled around that the Community’s Royal father, His Royal Highness, Oba Michael Gbadebo Onakoya, has been deposed.
High Chief Adebanjo, refuted the rumour following a move by another ruling house in the community which is desperately making move to select and impose a new candidate on the people of the community, despite several litigations in courts on the matter.
The High Chief also stated that though there was a judgment of the Court of Appeal in Suit No: CA/L/1270/2016-Michael Gbadebo Onakoya Vs Alhaji M.A. Quadri & 8 others on March 26, 2020, that Oba Michael Gbadebo Onakoya is not from Ewade Ruling house. This Judgment has been appealed against at the Supreme Court and it is yet to be heard and determined.
Also, there was an earlier Judgment of the High Court in Suit No: ID/1472/1992 Alhaji Wasiu Adesada and others Vs Lagos State Government and 17 others by Justice Abiru, which nullified all the ruling houses and set aside the Chieftaincy declaration as a result of the claim of the Adesada family that not all the stakeholder families were given fair hearing and sense of belonging at the tribunal, the report of which culminated into the government white paper and consequent defective chieftaincy declaration imposed on the community. The appeal to this judgment is slated to be heard and determined in September, 2020.
High Chief Adebanjo who also doubled as Chief priest Eleku of Igboyeland, therefore called on all those alleged to be behind the plan to forcefully install another monarch on the people of the community to reconsider their desperate action and thread with caution and decency since the sitting king has not been deposed by any court of competent jurisdiction, to wait until all suits relating to the matter, which are pending before both Supreme and Appeal Courts are determined.
He also called on Governor Babajide Sanwoolu, to use his power and good office to assist the community to correct the defective chieftaincy declaration so that those who are descendants to the direct children of Orijeru Osifaderin- the Progenitor of Igbooye Community can have access to the stool so as to give birth to an all inclusive declaration in the community, moreso when the present declaration which was a creation of the military government is defective and same needs a replacement so as to correct the lingering chieftaincy disputes in the community, the end of which is not yet in sight.
There are procedures laid down to be followed even in the defective chieftaincy declaration (which had been set aside) which shall lead to the selection, ratification and eventual installation of another monarch which can only commence after the determination of all the cases in courts because it is the law that when matters are in courts status quo should remain but instead the head of Ewade ruling house is hell bent in tormenting trouble and precipitating crisis in the community by convening meetings of his ruling house to pick a new candidate to fill the stool and this is the least expected to come from a lawyer presently in government service.
It is even more ridiculous that the head of Ewade ruling house to have pegged down the age of would be candidates for the stool to be under 50years of age with the aim of shutting out other interested candidates so as to pave way for the emergence of his immediate junior brother of the same parent as the sole candidate who had been allegedly penciled down to become the next monarch despite the cases in courts.
At inception, the present monarch-Oba Michael Gbadebo Onakoya was selected by the entire Community (Ewade ruling house inclusive) over 30 years ago with fanfare and despite that the Oba was the choice of everybody in the Community, the head of Ewade and some other members of their family lied on oath in Court that they were not aware and were not consulted before the selection of the monarch and this only happened after the death of their fathers.
“We therefore appeal to our listening Governor Babajide Sanwoolu and other public spirited individuals to please come to the aid of the Community and call the Head of Ewade ruling house who happen to be a staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice to order with a view to avoiding crisis in the community. A stitch in time saves nine”.