The Ogun State High Court sitting in Ota has nullified the installation of the Oniro of Iro, Oba Najeem Aromaye, ordering him to vacate the throne 13 years after his emergence as monarch.Justice O.O. Osunfisan, who delivered judgment on Tuesday in Suit No: AB/292/2013, held that the nomination, appointment and installation of Aromaye were unlawful, illegal and contrary to the approved chieftaincy declaration regulating the Oniro stool.
The court consequently set aside his appointment and awarded N1 million cost against the defendants.The suit was instituted by late Prince Adeleke Joseph Oniyide Adebari and Prince Kamoru Akindele Adebari on behalf of members of the Oleyo Ruling House of Iro Township.
Counsel to the claimants, Barrister Saliu Bakare, had argued that Aromaye neither belonged to the Oleyo Ruling House nor to any of the three recognised ruling houses entitled to produce candidates for the Oniro stool.
The court heard that Iro Township has three recognised ruling houses — Oleyo, Apetu-Mata and Eribi — which are expected to produce candidates for the stool on rotational basis.
Following the death of the last monarch from the Eribi Ruling House, Oba Gafar Ayinla Sanusi Ogunrinde-Oyero IV, in May 2012, the Oleyo Ruling House was expected to nominate the next Oniro.However, evidence before the court showed that members of the Oleyo family declined to present a candidate after deliberations, citing the absence of a qualified nominee who met the requirements laid down by the Iro Council of Chiefs, particularly in education and influence.
The family subsequently ceded its turn to the Apetu-Mata Ruling House in the interest of peace and development within the community.Despite the resolution, the Iro Council of Chiefs allegedly ignored the decision and presented Aromaye as a candidate, claiming he emerged from the Oleyo Ruling House.
The claimants maintained before the court that Aromaye was not a member of the Oleyo lineage and had no connection with any of the recognised ruling houses entitled to produce a candidate for the throne.
Court documents further revealed that protests and petitions written by members of the Oleyo family to relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, were allegedly ignored, leading to Aromaye’s installation in 2014.
The claimants also established that the installation was carried out despite a subsisting court order restraining the defendants from proceeding with the process pending the determination of the suit.In his judgment, Justice Osunfisan upheld the claims of the plaintiffs and declared that Aromaye was not entitled to occupy the throne.
The court ruled that the provisions of the Oniro of Iro Chieftaincy Declaration of 1965 and the Chiefs Law of Ogun State were breached during the selection process.
Justice Osunfisan consequently ordered Aromaye to vacate the throne forthwith and restrained him perpetually from parading himself as the Oniro of Iro.
The court also barred the Ogun State Government, the Iro Council of Chiefs and other defendants from according him recognition, rights, privileges or entitlements as a traditional ruler.
The judgment brings to an end a protracted legal battle spanning more than a decade, which had continued to generate tension within the Iro community.
