Members of the Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under the banner of Concerned PDP Members in Ifedayo Local Government Area, have called on Governor Ademola Adeleke to avoid approving the selection of traditional rulers who have pending court cases or questionable characters.
They specifically urged Adeleke to exercise caution and not allow members of the state Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to turn his administration into a lawless government amid the controversy surrounding the Asa Ooni stool.
Their appeal follows allegations that Governor Adeleke is being pressured by some APC members, in collaboration with certain PDP members in the state, to approve an APC member as the Asaooni of Ora-Igbomina, despite the ongoing legal case HOS/95/2024 concerning that traditional stool.
This case was filed by Olomoofe Adebowale Ayantoye Adedayo, the Head of Orolotimoyewa Ruling House, the next ruling house eligible to provide a candidate for the vacant Asa Ooni stool.
The legal action is prompted by allegations of impersonation against five members of the ruling house, including one Johnson Adekanmi Alani Abikoye, who has been claiming to be the AsaOoni-elect through fraudulent means.
According to the concerned members, “The five individuals from the ruling house are also facing criminal allegations of impersonation. They allegedly claimed that the head of the ruling house had died and been buried, leading them to submit an illegal and fraudulent letter to officials of the Ifedayo Local Government Area regarding the nomination of APC member Johnson Adekanmi Alani Abikoye, who is an unqualified candidate for the Asa Ooni stool.”
In a letter dated 7th November, 2024 and signed by Mr. Ayo Fadeyan, the Coordinator of the PDP Forum, a copy of which was forwarded to Governor Adeleke and his relevant cabinet members for their notification and necessary action on the burning issue, the PDP members urged the governor not to listen to any person that was advising him to result to self-help on the stool, urging Adeleke to resist the temptation from those they described as “enemies of due process and rule of law on the matter.”
Addressing Adeleke, they said: “We are using this opportunity to appeal to our amiable Excellency, Asiwaju Ademola Adeleke not to allow APC members in collaboration with certain PDP elements to mislead the Governor to approve anyone out of the candidates contesting for the Asaooni stool when the matter is before the Court of Law.
“We have shown concern because of the interest of the PDP at our hearts as some certain elements can decamp to sister party and be shifting blame on our leader, Asiwaju Ademola Adeleke after they might have misled our amiable governor on certain decisions.
“Your Excellency Sir, we want to draw your attention to certain actions taken by the APC Government during their administration in respect Obaship stool in the state, like Igbajo, Iwo, Ikirun, Iree, Awo, and some other towns which are too numerous to mention and everything is now history.
“We are not saying our amiable Governor Adeleke should politicize the Chieftaincy stool of AsaOoni but it is our belief that any person to be choosen should be a man of unquestionable character and his pedigree must speak volume and such person should not be the one being padded around as allegedly being rusticated from the University over cultism, school result racketeering and examination malpractices with unruly and bad behaviours as contained in our said earlier letter.
“Your Excellency Sir, we are of the view that Our Asiwaju Ademola Adeleke should know that the same APC would be the same party to be first to turn around to criticize you by claiming that Ademola Adeleke administration is a lawless government that does not have respect for the rule of law if any crisis occurs as next governorship election is gathering momentum.
“Sir, we are moving to the critical period of the re-election bid of your Excellency, we need to be handling the issue like this with extra care, “Ki a maa so ori olori, ki awodi maa gbe tiwa o”, in a situation where the Head of the ruling house that supposed to produce the candidate to fill the vacant stool has resulted the matter to Court, it has made the effort of our Excellency to wait until the outcome of the Court like Ikirun Obaship tussle.”
The PDP Forum equally argued that, “The position of law on the issue of self- help is very clear and the law of the land frowns at it by citing the case of: ANIGBOGU V. UCHEJIGBO(200) 10 NWLR(PT 776)472@488,PARAS D-E, the Court of Appeal has this to say; ‘Self-help is primitive and capable of causing breach of the peace.Thus, where there is a dispute, Courts are there to adjudicate,on issues between parties. Self- help cannot resolve the conflicts’.
The Forum added, “In the case of Registered Trustees, Apostolic Church Vs Owoseni (1990)6 NWLR(pt158) at 537-538,Nnaemeka-Agu,JSC,explained the law thus: “… once parties have turned their dispute over to the Courts for determination, the right to self-help ends. So, it is not permissible for one of the parties to take any step during the pendency of the suit which may have the effect of foisting upon the Court a situation of complete helplessness, or which may give the impression that the Court is being used as a mere subterfuge,to tie the hands of one party while the other party helps himself extra-judicially.Both parties are expected to await the result of the litigation and the appropriate order of Court before acting further.
“In The Military Governor of Lagos State v Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu…, the Supreme Court gave its stamp of approval to the principle inter alia,that once the Court is siezed of the matter,no party has the right to take the matter into its own hands…..The same principle applies in this Case, mutatis mutandis, notwistanding the fact that the offending party in this case is a Church organization. They are subject to the rule of law, and are expected to obey the law.Once they submitted the dispute to the Court, they ought not have done nothing which gave the impression that they are trying to pre-empt the decision of the Court. They could no longer,pending the determination of the suit, resort to self- help by erecting the fence wall without an order of Court.To have done so amounted to lawlessness….”
The Forum therefore advised Governor Adeleke to allow the State Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Wole Jimi-Bada to take over the issue once the head of the ruling house that should produce a candidate to fill the vacant stool of Asaooni has taken its fraudulent members to Court in respect of the stool, adding that they have brought less burden on the state government until the matter is settled in court.
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