Lagos Court Stops Olu of Iwaya Installation

Justice O. O. Ogunjobi of the Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafa Balewa Square has ordered the Lagos State Government and others to halt the installation of the new Olu of Iwaya.

In addition, the court ordered one Sulaiman Ogun-Oloko to stop parading himself as the Olu of Iwaya Kingdom or acting in the office of the Olu of Iwaya Kingdom pending the determination of suit marked LD/7218GCMW/2020.

Other defendants in the matter are the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State, Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, the chairmen of Lagos Mainland and Yaba Local Council Development Area and Sulaimon Ogun-Oloko.

The claimants in the suit are Ramon Rufai Ogo-Oluwa Aromire, the Olu of Iwaya (elect) by Oloto Royal Family Ruling House of Iwaya Kingdom, Adelani Onitolo; Oluwole Onitolo and Rufai Kolawole Babatunde.

The court made the order on Thursday, when it granted a motion exparte leave to the applicant, Aromire to apply, by way of judicial review, for the declaration of the court setting aside the purported installation and or recognition of Ogun-Oloko as the Olu of Iwaya Kingdom.

The kingship tussle had been in Lagos High Court for the past two years before Justice Ogunjobi granted the injunction on Thursday to stop Ogun-Oloko from receiving the staff of office.

Justice Ogunjobi set aside the purported installation and or, recognition of Sulaimon Ogun-Oloko by the Lagos State Government whether on May 25, 2023, or  May 27, 2023, as the Olu of Iwaya Kingdom and during the pendency of the suit, adding that it would risk being in contemptuous of the court.

However, the judge adjourned the matter till September 19, 2023, for the hearing of the case.