Following the ruling of the Osun State High Court on Monday, for the dismissal of application by the sitting Akire of Ikire, Oba Olatunde Falabi, by which he sought not to be removed from the Akire stool, the monarch has filed an appeal for the setting aside of the judgment against him.
It would be recalled that Prince Tajudeen Olanrewaju of Aketula ruling family had filed a suit against the wrongful installation of the current Akire of Ikire, on the ground that he was not entitled to the royal stool as at the time of his installation on May 8, 1993.
The Aketula family, who exorcised the 1958 Akire Chieftaincy Declaration to contest the installation of Oba Falabi, from the High Court till Supreme Court.
It would also be recalled that the Supreme Court had given a ruling in favour of the Aketula family on April 11, 2014, stating that the process that led to the nomination and installation of Oba Falabi was not in compliance to the 1958 Akire Chieftaincy Declaration, and therefore not legal.
During an interview, the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Barrister Dapo Adeniji, said that the position of the Court was that the present Akire of Ikire, Oba Falabi, should not have been installed because it was not the turn of his family, by the rotation arrangement provided by the legal framework of the community.
Barrister Adeniji said that although there had been a judgment for the removal of Oba Falabi before this time, there was no pursuance of the judgment that the Oba should vacate the stool, this making the judgment a mere declaration.
He added that: “the case was revisited when the current Akire of Ikire instituted action by submitting an application that the judgment be set aside, and the other party joined issues with him to revisit the case”.
Adeniji further explained that the execution of the removal should have taken effect, but Oba Falabi has submitted a notice of appeal, which he has the right to exorcise, adding that his appeal will be followed by a stay-of-execution-of-action in favour of the sitting Akire.
