By Emmanuel Daniji

The dispute over the traditional stool of Oshodi has taken a fresh turn as the Olushi Onigbesa Royal Family has approached the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, challenging the recognition and installation of rival claimants to the stool.

The family, through its representatives, Yaya Oseni Agedegudu and Kabiru Eeyantan, and their counsel, Omoniyi Akinmola, alleged in court processes that the Lagos State Government was backing rival claimants despite previous judicial decisions and administrative processes referenced in their filings.

Named as defendants in the suit are the Lagos State Governor, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Rural Development, the Chairman of Oshodi/Isolo Local Council, Chief Maroofdeen Oshodi and Chief Abdulrasak Oshodi.

The claimants are seeking declarations that the Olushi Onigbesa Royal Family is the family entitled to produce the Oba of Oshodi.

They are also asking the court to restrain the Lagos State Government, its agencies and the rival Oshodi Tapa and Arota families from recognising or installing any other person as the traditional ruler of Oshodi.

The Oshodi Tapa Family, however, has urged the court to dismiss the action, describing the claims as lacking merit.

In a statement on oath deposed to by Maroofdeen Oshodi, the defence challenged the claimants’ lineage and their alleged entitlement to the Oshodi traditional stool.

At the centre of the dispute is the recommendation of a Standing Tribunal of Inquiry into Chieftaincy Matters chaired by Justice A.O. Silva (rtd), which sat between 2005 and 2012 to consider, among other issues, whether the Baaleship of Oshodi should be elevated to an Obaship.

According to the claimants, the tribunal recommended the Olushi Onigbesa Royal Family as the family entitled to produce the Oba of Oshodi.

They further claimed that efforts by rival families to overturn the recommendation were unsuccessful at various stages of litigation.

The family also told the court that subsequent administrative steps were taken towards implementing the recommendation, including the preparation of a draft chieftaincy declaration and payment of the required fees.

It further claimed that the Joint Chieftaincy Committee of Oshodi/Isolo Local Government approved the nomination in 2021.

The defence, however, relied on earlier litigation and historical records to challenge the claimants’ position.

It cited suit No. AB/16/1957 and subsequent appellate decisions, arguing that land in Oshodi had been granted to the progenitors of the Oshodi Tapa and Arota families as an absolute gift.

The defence also relied on Supreme Court decisions, including Sunmonu Agedegudu v. Sanni Ajenifuja & Others and Dr Rasaki Oshodi & Others v. Yisa Eyifunmi & Another, in support of its position.

The Oshodi Tapa Family further questioned the validity and legal effect of the tribunal’s recommendation, arguing that the proceedings were conducted without adequate participation of all relevant families and that the tribunal exceeded its mandate.

The defendants also referred to historical records which, according to them, showed that members of the Oshodi Tapa and Arota families had produced successive Baales of Oshodi from the 19th Century until 2005.

The defence maintained that the Olushi Onigbesa family had no record of producing a Baale of Oshodi during that period and therefore lacked the customary basis to claim entitlement to the stool.

The legal battle has therefore brought questions of lineage, customary law, historical succession, previous court decisions and the implementation of chieftaincy recommendations to the centre of the dispute.

The High Court is expected to determine the competing claims based on the evidence and legal arguments presented by the parties.

Until the court determines the matter, the competing claims by the royal families remain contested.