From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
An Oyo State high court sitting in Ibadan, the state capital, has sacked the Alajaawa of Ajaawa in the Ogbomoso area of the state, Oba Thompson Adeyemo Oyetunji.
Delivering the judgement on Monday, Justice Sherifat Adeyemi held that the appointment and installation of Oyetunji as the Alajaawa of Ajaawa in Ogbomoso was illegal. The court said the appointment and installation were done in flagrant disobedience of court order
Justice Fadeyi of the court had in his ruling on June 13, 2019, restrained the parties from taking any action on the installation, pending the final determination of the matter. But Oyetunji was installed during the pendency of Justice Fadeyi’s order.
The court ordered in the two-hour judgment that the letter of appointment and other instruments of installation given to Oyetunji be withdrawn immediately.
The case had been instituted by Prince Azeez Oyewale and Prince Kamorudeen Salami on behalf of Olumole Ruling House of Ajaawa.
The defendants in the suit are listed as the Governor of Oyo State, Attorney General of Oyo State, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Prince Thompson Oyetunji, Chief Adewale Erinle, Chief Ademola Ishola, Chief Adegbite Adeleke, Prince Oyegoke Oyegbami, Prince Oladele Akinbola, and Prince Gideon Oyekunle.
The court also set aside the installation of Oyetunji and restrained him from further parading himself as the Alajaawa of Ajaawa.
Delivering the judgment, the judge stated that the out-of-court settlement between the parties brought before the court during the pendency of the case did not work.
‘There was no evidence that shows that there has been a move to settle the case out of court and if there is any, it should be brought to the knowledge of the court,’ the judge said.