An Osun State High court sitting in Ikire on Monday dismissed the application of Akire of Ikire, Olatunde Falabi that he should not be removed from the royal stool.
Prince Tajudeen Olarewaju of Aketula ruling House had filed a suit against the installation of the monarch on the ground that he was not entitled to the throne as at the time he was installed based on the 1958 Akire Chieftaincy Declaration.
It was recalled that the monarch was installed as Akire of Ikire on May 8, 1993.
The legal tussle on Akire of Ikire erupted after the demise of the late Akire, Oba Oseni Oyegunle on the 5th August, 1987 and as at the time, according to a legal advice from the Court of Appeal, Ibadan, the ruling houses entitled to the throne were in the order of, Aketula, Ladekan, Lambeloye, Disamu and Omisokan.
However, his ascension to the throne was challenged by the Aketula ruling house in the High court till Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court judgement dated April 11, 2014, stated that the process that led to the nomination and selection of Oba Falabi was not legal, noting that installation to the position should be in accordance with the 1958 Akire Chieftaincy Declaration.
In view of the fact that evidence on record shows that the 1958 declaration in respect of Akire of Ikire Chieftaincy stool has not been amended or repealed, it subsists which means that there are five ruling houses in Ikire for which the appellant is one of them.
The court recognized that after the demise of Oyegunle (the immediate past monarch) who is from Onisokan (the fifth ruling house) Aketula (the first ruling house) should produce the next monarch because the rotation was completed according to 1958 Akire Chieftaincy Declaration.
Subsequently, the Akire of Ikire, Oba Falabi approached the State High court to grant his reliefs that Osun State government should not remove him from the stool.
In his ruling, Justice Abdulrasak Abdulkareem dismissed all the reliefs sought by the counsel to the monarch.
